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The IRB Council has approved the application from the American Samoa Rugby Football Union (ASRFU) to become a full member after it successfully fulfilled the criteria to be upgraded from associate membership.

The Union, which is part of the Federation of Oceania Rugby Unions (FORU), has 18 affiliated clubs and runs senior men’s, senior women’s and junior competitions under its auspices.

IRB Council was in agreement with an IRB Executive Committee recommendation to approve the application subject to a review being conducted within 24 months to ascertain ASRFU’s continued progression to make sure the Union is worthy of retaining that new status.

“The IRB is delighted to welcome American Samoa as the latest Full Member,” said IRB Chairman Bernard Lapasset.

“The ASRFU is a structured organisation that has demonstrated strong governance principles and a robust administration. It has demonstrated a determination to grow the Game within the country. The IRB is committed to developing Rugby around the world and this is yet another step along that path,” said Lapasset.

American Samoa is an unincorporated territory of the United States and a meeting took place at the 10th IRB General Assembly in 2011 with the IRB, ASRFU and USA Rugby all being represented with matters of eligibility being set. ASRFU is recognised by the American Samoa National Olympic Committee.

The IRB Council also approved an application from the United Arab Emirates Rugby Association (UAERA) for Associate Membership. The Union had previously become an associate member of the Asian Rugby Football Union (ARFU) in 2009 and a full member in 2011. The Union was created with a view to replacing the Arabian Gulf RFU, which ceased to be a member of the IRB on December 31, 2011, so that Rugby in the Region would continue to grow and develop within antonomous states. UAERA is recognised by its National Olympic Committee.

Furthermore, the IRB Council has approved a recommendation from IRB Executive Committee that UAERA be approved as a Full Member of the IRB within 12 months subject to positive progress and reports from ARFU and the IRB’s regional staff.

As an active Union, UAERA fully meets the IRB membership criteria for Associate Membership and has been a driving force behind rapid participation increased within the country.

It is a structured organisation with full-time administrators. It has 1,300 adult registered players and a further 4,600 youth players. UAERA runs a seven-team annual domestic 15-a-side premiership league and an eight-team conference competition. The national 15-a-side team played in the HSBC Asian 5 Nations Top 5 tournament finishing third in 2011 and the Union continues to host successful tournaments.

This decision is subject to a review being conducted within 24 months of the award of full member status to confirm that the Union has progressed and is worthy of retaining that status. Following these admissions, the IRB is now made up of 98 Full Members and 20 Associate Members.

The International Triathlon Union (ITU), in collaboration with its global marketing partner Upsolut Sports, have announced it has rebranded its World Championship Series and modified the sponsorship structure and will now be known as the ITU World Triathlon Series.

Much like the IOC’s TOP sponsorship programme, the ITU World Triathlon Series will feature two main sponsors, Dextro Energy and Samsung, and four category sponsors including Suunto and SKINS.

Marisol Casado, ITU President and IOC Member, said: “This new structure not only gives our premier series a cleaner image, it also gives us greater flexibility to raise the profile of the series and increase its commercial success.”

The 2012 ITU World Triathlon Series kicks off in April in Sydney, Australia.  With eight events in eight different countries, the 2012 ITU World Champions will be crowned at the Grand Final in Auckland, New Zealand.

In 2011 the series doubled its media figures compared to 2010. The total TV broadcast time was 917 hours; the coverage reached an audience of 207-million worldwide and made 4,592-billion FASPO contacts.The events had more than 1-million spectators while 27,500 participants competed in the age-group races.

Christian Toetzke, CEO of Upsolut Sports said: “The popularity of the ITU World Triathlon Series gets bigger and bigger and we’re sure there’s still huge growth potential. Everybody who ever tried triathlon will do it again.”

The ITU World Triathlon Series was launched in 2009, expanding the former single-day World Championship race.  Points are accrued throughout the season and athletes who win the overall series are crowned the ITU World Champions.

Australian Rugby Union Chairman Michael Hawker AM has become a Director of the Rugby World Cup Board, Rugby World Cup Limited (RWCL), the wholly owned subsidiary of the International Rugby Board, announced today. 

Hawker’s appointment follows unanimous approval by the IRB Executive Committee. He joins IRB Chairman Bernard Lapasset, IRB Vice-Chairman Oregan Hoskins, WRU Chairman David Pickering and IRB Chief Executive Brett Gosper on the Board, which is responsible for all Rugby World Cup properties.

A member of the IRB Council and Executive Committee and a former Australia international, Hawker brings to the Board a wealth of knowledge and experience gained over a long and successful career in the banking and insurance industries, in both executive and non-executive roles in Europe, Asia and Australia with Aviva plc and the Macquarie Group Ltd.

Lapasset said: “I am delighted to be welcoming Michael Hawker to the Rugby World Cup Board. With a strong blend of major business and Rugby administration experience, Michael is perfectly suited to our mission to further strengthen Rugby World Cup as one of the great sporting brands and drive Rugby’s growth around the world.”

“Michael joins the Board at an exciting time for Rugby World Cup with preparations on track to deliver an exceptional 2015 tournament in England and the solid foundations in place for the first Rugby World Cup in Asia when Japan hosts the 2019 tournament.”

Hawker, who also sits on the IRB Executive Committee and the IRB’s Audit and Risk Committee, will serve as a Director until at least the end of the current Board mandate in 2016.

Hawker said: “I am delighted and honoured to be joining the Rugby World Cup Board at such an exciting time for the sport and for Rugby World Cup. Working within a strong and visionary Rugby World Cup Board, I look forward to playing a full role in furthering the Rugby World Cup brand within the global sporting marketplace.”

Hawker replaces John O’Neill on the Board after the Australian stepped down from his position earlier this year.

This weekend’s semi-finals and finals of the ATCO PSA & WSA World Series Squash Finals may offer a potential worldwide audience of more than 300 million the opportunity to watch live televised squash for the first time.

The flagship World Series event – featuring the world’s top eight players from both the Professional Squash Association and Women’s Squash Association World Series events in 2012 – is taking place at The Queen’s Club in London.

The live broadcasters include Sky Sports, Eurosport, Astro, PCCW, Starhub, SkyNet, Ten Sports, Orbit Showtime Network and One World Sport – the welcome newcomer being Eurosport 2, the Pan European operation which is distributed across 47 countries and more than 60 million households.

“Last January’s live coverage of the Finals on Sky Sports in the UK was a breakthrough for SquashTV, and was extremely well-received,” said PSA CEO Alex Gough. “Adding in Eurosport 2 is another big step for squash.

“In our bid to become an Olympic sport, PSA has been investing heavily in TV coverage of the sport and to now have the confidence of such a significant list of broadcasters around the world airing our sport live is a big plus,” added the former world number five.

Sports agency, The Sports Partnership has agreed a deal to manage two-time Olympic Gold medal winning cyclist, Ed Clancy.

The five-time World Champion is one of Team GB’s most talented track riders, as well as competing for Rapha Condor on the road. Ed was recently named in the Great Britain team for this month’s Track World Cup. The 27-year-old will join Jason Kenny and Philip Hindes in the three-lap team sprint event in Glasgow. 

Clancy’s unique combination of speed and endurance helped him to achieve both Gold in the Team Pursuit and Bronze in the individual Omnium at London 2012. 

Ed commented: “I’m excited to be joining The Sports Partnership and, having seen how they’ve successfully worked with other athletes, I feel confident that I have the right team to support my cycling ambitions leading into the Olympics in 2016.”

James Williamson at The Sports Partnership added: “Having the chance to work with someone of Ed’s calibre is an absolute privilege. Watching Ed and the rest of the GB track team perform at London 2012 was utterly awe-inspiring and we’re excited to be a part of his journey to Rio 2016.”

Formula One racer Jenson Button and his management team, Richard Goddard and James Williamson launched the sports agency earlier this year offering management and PR services to professional athletes and key figures in the world of sport.

The new chief of the FIFA Ethics Committee has pledged to put the awarding of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar under scrutiny.

The awarding of the 2006 World Cup to Germany will also be thoroughly analyzed as part of the inquiries. The newly-appointed joint chief investigator of FIFA’s ethics committee Michael Garcia, medic made the comments on German television.

The American said his department will examine the relationship between FIFA and ISL, sale the marketing company which sold FIFA’s World Cup TV rights.

It has been revealed the now defunct ISL paid millions of dollars in bribes to former FIFA president Joao Havelange and ex-FIFA executive committee member Ricardo Teixeira.

“If you look at things, arthritis it is clear there is something to investigate and that is what we are going to do,” the 51-year-old Garcia told ARD.

FIFA President Sepp Blatter’s activity will also be investigated, Garcia said: “The more important the person involved is, the more important it is to examine them as well.”

Michael Garcia and Hans-Joachim Eckert of Germany were appointed joint chairmen of the Ethics Committee during FIFA’s extraordinary meeting in Zurich in July 2012. Russia and Qatar were selected as the host countries for the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups on December 2, 2010, following the voting by the FIFA executive committee. This made Russia the first Eastern European country to host the World Cup, while Qatar would be the first Middle Eastern country to host the World Cup.

The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and the Orange Bowl committee have announced a 12-year deal that runs through 2025 that will keep the ACC champion playing in the Orange Bowl, patient which is currently sponsored by Discover. 

Last year, order the ACC received $22.3 million as a result of Clemson’s participation in the Orange Bowl. That revenue is shared among the conference members and ACC Commissioner John Swofford has long saidthat arrangement will stay the same.

The Orange Bowl hasn’t yet struck a deal with another conference to provide an opponent for the ACC in the game, but an announcement on that front is expected in a few days. The Rose Bowl recently announced a broadcast deal with ESPN.

Last week, a committee of college presidents announced a four-team playoff for college football, with a rotation of six bowls taking turns hosting the semifinal games.

If the ACC champion is selected as a final four team in a year in which the Orange Bowl is not hosting a semifinal, another ACC team would play in that year’s Orange Bowl. Conversely, if the ACC champion is not chosen to the final four in a year in which the Orange Bowl hosts a semifinal game, that ACC championship team would participate in one of the other major bowl games.

The Atlantic Coast Conference also recently negotiated a $3.6 billion, 15-year contract extension with ESPN. The member universities will receive an average of $17 million per year in revenue from that deal.

The play-off system in the Rugby Football Union (RFU) Championship is set to be revamped from next season.

The Championship promotion and relegation pool stages have been abolished by the RFU. From next season the top four teams in the second tier will play a two-legged semi-final and a two-legged final.

There will be no relegation play-offs at all, with the bottom team automatically demoted to National One.The system is intended to streamline the league and reward the best teams throughout the regular season.

Since its inception in 2009, the Championship’s top eight clubs were split into two pool groups, while the bottom four clubs formed a separate relegation play-off.This format was adopted to increase revenue, as every club would end up playing an extra two home ties after the regular season had finished, and it is thought that these additional games will now be filtered into the British and Irish Cup fixtures.

The current system has received widespread criticism, especially from the best performing clubs, as their push for promotion was based on their performances after 22 rounds had concluded.

British athlete, James Ellington, is seeking a sponsorship deal via online auction site, eBay, as part of his race to compete in the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

Ellington, 26, from Lewisham in south-east London, will advertise on eBay, with a reserve of £30,000, for which he will wear a sponsor’s branded kit at training and press events in the run-up to and after next summer’s event.

He has turned to eBay to try to raise funds, without which he fears he risks being left behind his international competitors.

Four years of serious injury meant Ellington – a 100m, 200m and relay sprinter – slipped down the rankings, and has been passed over by the major sponsors who were looking for long-term tie-ups.

He has enjoyed his best season yet, running 200m in the fastest time by a British athlete this year at a non-altitude venue (20.52 seconds).

To train around the clock like his rivals, Ellington says he needs a £15,000 wage and a further £15,000 for expenses to cover travel and accommodation, nutritional support and kit.

Ellington said: “I’ve been passed over by potential sponsors in the past because of my injury, but that’s all behind me now. I’m peaking when it really matters, finishing my best-ever season and smashing my own personal bests just before the 2012 Games.

“All I need now is a commercial sponsor to get on board and I can commit myself full-time to getting into Team GB and hopefully win a medal for Great Britain at London 2012.”