British Olympic Association (BOA) chairman Colin Moynihan has revealed his positivity about retaining his organisation’s controversial lifetime ban ruling on convicted drug cheats following the all-important hearing from the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

Moynihan attended the hearing in person here at Tower 42 on Old Broad Street in London as the BOA put forward their case via external legal advisor Lord David Pannick QC of Blackstone to a three-man CAS panel in their attempt to overturn the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) ruling that declared its anti-doping bylaw non-compliant.

Should the appeal prove unsuccessful, which is considered likely, convicted drug cheats like sprinter Dwain Chambers and cyclist David Millar will be able to be selected to compete for Team GB at the London 2012 Olympic Games.

But Moynihan admits he is quietly confident that the BOA will be able to defend their stance after the hearing and predicted that the CAS panel will reach a decision on the dispute within a month.

“It was a good day where all the arguments were put very strongly by both sides,” said Moynihan at the conclusion of the hearing. One of the questions that we put [to the CAS panel] was to try and get a resolution as soon as possible.

“My expectation is about a month but we don’t want it any longer than that because it is in the interest of the athletes that they know what the outcome will be so they can start preparing for London 2012 as soon as possible.

“But we don’t anticipate the finding before mid-April. But today was good. There was good work and outstanding legal representation.

“Lord Pannick [who represented the BOA when they successfully resisted a claim in the High Court by Chambers to allow him to compete at the Beijing 2008 Olympics] was really first rate.

“He spoke for us at length, did all the presentations throughout the day and was truly exceptional in pulling together all the strands of our case.

“But above all, the voice of the athletes came over strong and loud and I think they were listened to today. So I am cautiously optimistic.”

Moynihan continued that his biggest concern after the case is that the BOA loses their appeal because he feels they are representing the greatest concerns of the athletes.

“The greatest concern is that we don’t win,” he said.

“That is because we represent the athletes, who have always voted that we take a tough line on those who knowingly cheat. We have had this bylaw in place for 20 years and it has always had the full support of the athletes. 

“We have done our best to represent the athletes and the 204 National Olympic Committees should have the right to select the athletes they wish to select. But the findings may dwell on the finer legal points rather than the greater moral issue here.”

by Ismail Uddin

The Rugby Football League (RFL) are not concerned to not having Super League sponsors in place before next month’s kick-off as they are sure they will get one before the event begins.

Engage Mutual Assurance ended their seven-year sponsorship of the game’s elite competition at the end of last season and the RFL say they are progrssing in talks with finding a replacement and hope to have a new sponsor in the next couple of weeks.

Nationwide logistics company Stobart, who are the principal shirt sponsors of Super League newcomers Widnes Vikings and have naming rights to their Halton Stadium, have been heavily linked as a new sponsor.

However the RFL are also talking to other companies and they could agree partnership deals with a number of sponsors in a structure similar to soccer’s European Champions League.

An RFL spokesman said: “We are still speaking to several potential sponsors and expect to make a series of exciting announcements later this month.”

The new Super League season starts on Friday, February 3.

Coca-Cola has unveiled its “Move to the Beat” campaign for the London 2012 Games that will be led by renowned music producer Mark Ronson.

The campaign is designed to promote the Olympics and sport generally to teenagers by focussing on teenagers’ love of music. Ronson, together with chart-topping singer Katy B, will create a new song by that will feature a fusion of sounds of Olympic sport.

London-born Ronson travelled around the World in search of inspiration for the song. He met young athletes and recorded the sounds of them competing to provide the beat for the tune.

The single will be available worldwide next year and will provide feature in television commercials, mobile and digital platforms and Coca-Cola events throughout the 2012 Games.

Ronson said: “I’ve been able to do something really unique, meeting these remarkable people and recording their sounds to use in this song. It’s exciting to be working with Coca-Cola on the Move to the beat Campaign for London 2012.”

Five of the athletes who were recorded for the song  will feature in the Coca-Cola advertising campaign and act as ambassadors for Move to the Beat. The young athletes involved will be: British table tennis player Darius Knight, United States sprint hurdler David Oliver, Russian 400 metre runner Kseniya Vdovina Singaporean archer Dayyan Jaffar, and Mexican taekwondo star Maria Espinoza.

Coca-Cola spokesman Shay Drohan said: “The number one passion point for teens is music. Through Move to the Beat, Coca-Cola is inspiring teens around the world to move to the beat of London and come together in the biggest Olympic Games activation in our 84-year partnership. As the longest continuous support of the Olympic Games, Coca-Cola is committed to using our Olympic Games sponsorship to be a part of the Olympic experience and become more active.”

Coca-Cola has been involved in the Olympic since the 1928 Games in Amsterdam and has extended the relationship with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to 2020.

South Africa’s Sam Ramsamy had been elected to succeed Mustapha Larfaoui as the President of the Confederation of African Swimming (CANA), sale following the Algerian’s decision to step down from the post that he had held since the birth of the organisaton, generic in 1972.

Ramsany steps up from his previous position of CANA Vice-President after beating Nigeria’s Chief Thomas Olatokunbo by 14 votes to six at the Congress that took place during the African Championships in Nairobi.

Considered to be one of the most influent individuals in the recent history of the Olympic Movement, doctor Ramsamy also occupies the position of Vice-President of Fédération Internationale de Natation (FINA) and is the former President of Swimming South Africa.

As Chairman of the South African Non-Racial Olympic Committee (SANROC), from 1976 to 1990, he protested against discrimination in sport and was an outspoken campaigner against a white-only South African teams in international sporting events.

Perform Group plc , the global market leader in the distribution and commercialisation of sports content across connected digital platforms, has announced the acquisition of German sports media company Sportal Gmbh (“Sportal”).

Sportal owns Sportal.de, a leading sports portal in the German market and also provides a range of content, production and technology services for clients such as Spiegel, Süddeutsche, RTL/sport.de, Motain, Sportal Media gruppe Switzerland. The business has been acquired from private investors and in the year to 31 December 2011 Sportal reported revenues of €1.4 million. Gross assets at 31 December 2011 were €0.4 million.

The acquisition builds on Perform’s presence in the German market, having acquired Spox.com and mediasports at the end of 2011. Sportal.de has an average of 800k unique sports fans visiting the site every month and will be integrated into the mediasports advertising network which includes sites such as Spox.com, Goal.com, Comunio.de, Kicktipp.de and Formel1.de, taking its reach to over 8m unique sports fans every month.

Perform’s Joint-CEO, Oliver Slipper commented: “This is another positive acquisition for Perform. We are very committed to the German market and see some great opportunities in what is one of the largest digital economies in Europe. Sportal has a heritage of providing great content to German fans and the acquisition takes us a step closer to consolidating our position as the leading digital sports advertising platform in market.”

Brighton & Hove Albion have received permission from Brighton & Hove City Council to expand the Amex stadium adding over 8000 seats and build a large temporary car park serving the ground.

The twin planning applications were both granted this afternoon with the capacity increasing at the stadium by 8250 – from 22,500 to 30,750.

Crucial to expanding the ground was a separate application to turn land from the former Falmer High School into car parking. Councillors granted permission for four years, subject to a number of conditions aimed at reducing the impact of vehicles and minimising disturbance to neighbours.

The consent also requires the Albion to build a replacement for the nearby Bridge Community Centre, to be opened before the car park is constructed.

A condition of installing more seats would be a requirement for the Albion to provide a residents’ parking scheme on match and event days. This would aim to prevent current problems caused by fans’ cars being left on streets in Coldean and Moulsecoomb.

The club has also agreed to improve the capacity of Platform 1 at Falmer station to handle crowds.

Chair of the planning committee Cllr Phelim MacCafferty said: “This is a triple win for the city. The club get their seats, the community centre is replaced and nearby residents get their streets back.

“We’re keen to help the football club and we’ve been creative in ensuring local people are looked after as well.”

Brighton’s chief executive, Martin Perry, said: “We have put pride back into the city, we have put a spring in the step of the city,” said Perry.

“This takes the club forward and we urge you to approve it.”

Only drivers with pre-paid parking tickets will be able to use the car park. It will be available for a limit of 50 matches or events a year. Hours of use are restricted to between 7am and 11.30pm.

A maximum of 680 cars will be allowed. Drivers will be forbidden to use Lucraft Roadfor access, instead entering via a tunnel from the A270.

The South Coast club moved to their new £93million home at Falmer at the beginning of the season in time for the club’s return to the Championship following promotion from League One.

Prior to moving into the new stadium, the Seagulls had been without a home since leaving the Goldstone Ground in 1997.

English Rugby Union club Plymouth Albion are in dire straits after the Championship sides shareholders held emergency talks last night in a bid to save the club from bankruptcy.

Chairman Dr Graham Stirling issued a plea for cash to keep the struggling club afloat until the end of the season.

“We need to raise about £200,000 to see us through,” Dr Stirling said at an extraordinary general meeting, called at a few days’ notice.

And he said the members of the board had “made it clear that we will all consider our positions going forward”.

Around 60 of the 130 shareholders met at the Brickfields ground for talks that went on for more than two hours.

Dr Stirling said they had pledged money to help the club, which is understood to have a shortfall of around £500,000. But he added: “We’re not there yet.

“We have had a very positive response. It’s the wish of the shareholders that we do everything possible to stave off administration or liquidation.

“They are making pledges and we will take a look once that’s all added up and see where we stand.”

The club’s financial woes reached crisis point last week after moves to bring in a new investor collapsed.

Businessman Nigel Passmore was brought on board in November, shortly before Albion sacked long-serving chairman of rugby Graham Dawe.

Mr Dawe was replaced by former Exeter boss Peter Drewett and coaching consultant Phil Greening in a deal underwritten by Mr Passmore.

Dr Stirling said Albion bosses knew the club was in a perilous state in November.

“We thought we had a solution seven weeks ago when Nigel came on board, but unfortunately that fell through,” Dr Stirling said.

After Mr Passmore severed his ties with the club just before Christmas, Albion was unable to fund the salaries of Mr Drewett and Mr Greening, and they quit last week.

Mr Dawe attended last night’s meeting. He said afterwards: “There is still a lot of work to do but the meeting was positive.

“The groundswell of opinion is that people want to see the club remain in the Championship.”

Dr Stirling said he hoped to avoid putting the club into administration. Going into administration would mean a points deduction and almost certain relegation.

“That could be a route to go down but it is an absolute last resort.

“For a club like Albion the cost of going [out of the Championship] would far exceed the cost of remaining in and fixing the problem.

“The shortfall is largely attributable to lower gates, lower ground spend, lower sponsorship and lower commercial and non-rugby income.”

Players and staff would not be asked to work without pay as happened at Plymouth Argyle Football Club last year, he said.

“We are not in a similar position to Plymouth Argyle. The magnitude of the problem isn’t on their scale. It’s still serious, but it’s fixable.”

Shareholder Andy Kelland said before the meeting: “I’m here to listen and find out how serious the situation is. It sounds pretty serious.”

One shareholder, who did not want to be named, said: “I would be happy to put in £50 or £60 but not the sums of £5,000 that are being asked for.”

Another who wanted to remain anonymous said the club would probably raise enough money to stay afloat until the summer “but what then?”

Council leader Vivien Pengelly said: “I can’t comment on the Albion situation, but I would fight to keep the Brickfields as a sports facility.”

The World Squash Federation (WSF) have begun a new strategy of branding by launching a new logo, intended, to achieve a clear, consistent visual identity that not only emphasises the position and role of the federation, but also has the flexibility to be used in a variety of ways in respect of the organisation’s programmes and initiatives. 

The new branding uses the lines of the front wall of a squash court to give a visual cue towards squash and features strong lines and colours as part of a full rebranding that will ensure instant recognition of WSF.

N Ramachandran, WSF’s President, said: “We are a bold organisation and want to reflect that in how we look. In simple terms, WSF is a brand and we have to present this effectively to our stakeholders and all to whom we relate.”

Andrew Shelley, chief executive at the WSF, added: “The flexibility of design and colour is important, so that we can give separate identities to all our schemes. We are heartened by positive reaction from those who have seen the designs so far and we hope that the entire world of squash will be similarly upbeat now that it is released.”

The WSF is currently pursuing a bid to get the sport onto the Olympic programme for 2020.

The federation also recently announced that it is opening an office in the Maison Du Sport International in Lausanne to be close to the headquarters of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and has appointed Mike Lee’s company Vero Communications to help raise the profile of the bid.