Jonathan Ford, bronchi the Chief Executive of the Football Association of Wales (FAW), health is in favour of Michel Platini’s proposal to spread the 2020 European Championship across the entire continent, remedy claiming that the horrible state of the economy would make it difficult for a sole nation to host the event. 

He said: “In this economic climate, it is very difficult for an individual country to justify or quantify the fact that they’re going to have to invest in so much on infrastructure that sometimes wouldn’t be used. 

“Let’s not forget, Portugal Euro 2004 was a great success, but three of their stadiums have since been demolished.” 

Despite the destruction of a few white elephants in Portugal, Ford did admit that UEFA need to be cautious with a multi-country tournament, pointing towards the societal benefits that hosting an international event can generate.

He added: “The power of these events is more than just what happens on the field of play, it’s a societal thing and we have got to be careful that we don’t take that best element of what these events represent.”

The former Head of Sponsorship at Coca Cola, concluded that Wales would be “interested” in playing host, whatever format UEFA decide upon. 

Check out the entire interview here: http://bit.ly/T0RhH4

Smith and Fong Plyboo bamboo flooring has been selected as the product of choice in the $152 million historic Rose Bowl renovation project.

PlybooPure Strand Bamboo flooring uses NAUF (no added urea formaldehyde) adhesives and 100% FSC Certified Bamboo, ed which will help the renovation project meet LEED certification qualifications.

17, adiposity 550 sq.ft. of Havana and Sahara Strand Bamboo flooring will be installed in the Press Box and VIP suites. The project architect specified Plyboo Pure Strand as the basis of design because of its superior strength, doctor manufacturing quality, and appearance. Plyboo Strand Bamboo flooring has a 3,500 psi hardness rating making it twice as durable as red oak as well as visually beautiful.

“All of our Strand Bamboo flooring products use 100% FSC Certified Bamboo, are FloorScore Certified, and pass the CA Section 01350 certification, the most stringent test available” says Plyboo Vice President of Sales, Angus Stocks, “I believe our commitment to creating superior products the cleanest way possible is a real advantage.”

The Rose Bowl is an outdoor athletic stadium in Pasadena, California, U.S., in Los Angeles County.

The project is being built by Clark Construction.

English Rugby League team Bradford Bulls could be forced to enter administration, having been served a winding-up order by HM Revenue & Customs.

The rugby league club is struggling to meet the taxman’s bill and claims it needs about £1m to fulfil its remaining fixtures this season, despite supporters already raising £500,000.

The club’s board of directors said the appointment of administrators would buy the club vital time in keeping HMRC at bay while they attempt to garner new funds.

An independent review of the club’s finances was conducted by Brendan Guilfoyle of insolvency firm The P&A Partnership at the request of a newly formed board of directors.

The review found the Bulls are a “loss-making business”, requiring £1m to survive the rest of the season.

Stephen Coulby, one of the club’s new directors, said that more than £1.2m was required to meet the four-time Super League champions’ current liabilities.

He told the Telegraph & Argus: “Unfortunately, developments last Friday and pressure from HMRC has meant that we have had to seek protection while positive talks with investors continue now that we have ascertained the full extent of the club’s debts.

“Had the actual position been, as we were initially led to believe, a requirement for a £1m investment into the business, half of which having already been raised through the sterling efforts of supporters, the present uncertainty would have been resolved by now.

“Regrettably, other matters have recently been brought to our attention which have widened the funding gap, but we are still intent on avoiding administration and its consequences if at all possible.”

It is understood that players and staff will be paid as normal this month, with wages due to hit their bank accounts today.

Europe’s governing body UEFA has introduced a new marketing strategy through Facebook to get more fans engaged with the Europa League before the knockout stages start in February.

The competition already has a following of 150,000 fans on the social networking site and Europe’s governing body will be hoping to attract far more with the launch of a series of initiatives between now and the final in May.

Ahead of the round of 32 a fans’ social mosaic will be launched which will create a picture of the Europa League trophy using users’ profile pictures.

In the next round of games fans will be encouraged to share their location and state which game they are watching as UEFA look to “light-up Europe”.

At the quarter-final stage supporters will be asked to upload pictures of their favourite Europa League memories which will then be voted on by other fans.

The completed social mosaic will return ahead of the semi-finals and users will be able to win prizes by finding special tiles among the profile pictures.

For the final, which is being played in Bucharest on May 9, fans will be asked for vote for their favourite Europa League player from a pre-selected list with the winners receiving a match ball.

Tim Finchem, PGA Tour commissioner says that a future official world tour for golf is a probability. With the Tour already spanning over 5 different continents, expansions plans are in progress after reaching the likes of Malaysia and China in recent months as well as plans to secure an event in Japan.

Finchem stated on the Tour’s official website: “I think that at some point in time, men’s professional golf will become integrated globally. Now, what form that takes, whether it’s a total integration, whether it’s a FIFA-type, I don’t know. One question is how the competition is organised. Another question is how the organisational structure behind it is organised. The first one is the key thing.”

Finchem also added that alongside European Tour chief executive George O’Grady he has been “working together” on developing golf in Asia: “We’re not going to play a tonne of tournaments over there, so it shouldn’t be a problem. George knows that. We’re talking to him constantly about what our plan would be. My guess is it will result in us doing even more together.”

The Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK) renewed its deal with the Viking Group, doctor keeping it as its title sponsor for 2011, capsule it has been announced.

With the support of the transport and logistics company Viking Group, the ASBK has been able to make a number of significant steps forward in 2010 including a standalone event in the Northern Territory, the revival of ‘2+4’ races alongside V8 Supercars and television coverage including a first for the sport, a live, free-to-air broadcast.

Director of the Viking Group Steve Iliopoulos said: “2010 has been a successful year for the ASBK and we are pleased to confirm our continued naming-rights sponsorship into 2011 which looks set for further growth driven by IEG’s desire to innovate and expand.

“The championship reached a wide audience this year thanks to the involvement with V8 Supercars, a new and exciting television package and a number of entertaining support classes and activities.”

Managing director of IEG, promoter of the ASBK, Yarrive Konsky, added: “The Viking Group has played an instrumental role in the ASBK’s growth during 2010, a season where we were able to make significant steps forward with new events plus racing and live television coverage alongside the V8 Supercars.

“We believe the momentum gained this season will carry over into 2011 and look forward to continuing a successful relationship with the Viking Group as we strive to build the profile of the championship and its world-class riders even further.”

Queens Park Rangers FC have looked to up the ante in the social media stakes after revealing they will advertise the club’s Twitter hashtag on the home dugout.

The move is designed to increase fan engagement between R’s supporters who use Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Google+ on a matchday, and is the latest in a series of social media initiatives launched by the club over the past two years.

The R’s have used dedicated matchday hashtags since the start of last season and have found the move popular in engaging with the QPR fans pre, during and post-match.

Adam Hulme, QPR’s Multi-Media Officer, said: “We are always looking for new and innovate ways to engage with our fans through social media.

“We understand that communication with our fans is crucial and our social media channels allow us to experiment with new technologies to help engage with our fans.

“In becoming the first club to add our matchday hashtag to our home dugout we hope to show our growing fanbase how to interact with each other to hopefully add an extra dimension to their matchday experience.”

The R’s social media presence has grown significantly over the past two years with over 147,000 followers on Twitter, as well as almost 230,000 Facebook fans – 108% growth during the 2012/13 season.

Alex Trickett, Head of Sport at Twitter UK, said: “Twitter brings people closer to the things they care about and for many in the UK, that means football.

“We are excited to see QPR thinking of new ways to use our platform to connect fans with the team and players.”

Last season, QPR were the first Premier League side to stream live pre-match press conferences through the social media channel Ustream.

Rangers also used their highly-popular Ustream channel to stream pre-season games in Austria, with fans able to watch a live football match within a tweet.

During the previous transfer window, the R’s have been praised for their innovative ways of announcing new signings though Twitter’s short video service, Vine, including the arrival of Loic Remy and Danny Simpson.

In August, the R’s were named as the most socially savvy football team in the UK outside of the Premier League and scooped the ‘Innovation in Insight-Driven Multichannel Marketing’ award for the #ForeverRs campaign.