Rugby League’s 1eague3, the new Super League Players’ Association, was officially launched yesterday as the players followed other sports in creating their own players union.

The Super League Players Association expect to represent 85% of all players in the elite competition.

The organisation, was officially launched in Manchester on Monday night, with St Helens forward Jon Wilkin appointed chairman and joined on the management committee by Leeds prop Jamie Peacock, the England captain.

The new body has already been condemned by the GMB trade union, who claim to represent more than 800 rugby league players and insist they are better placed to cater for the needs of all players.

Ernie Benbow, chief executive of 1eague3, said the decision to form the association was taken after a ballot of 350 Super League players produced a 94% return, of which 329 were in favour and one against.

“The results were quite overwhelming,” he said. “Membership at the moment stands at around 75% of Super League professionals in first-team squads and we still have one club (Catalan Dragons) to deliver a presentation to.

“The aim is to reach 85% which, considering we have come from a standing start, is quite a fantastic achievement. There is clearly an appetite for greater representation from within the sport itself.

“The players within Super League have been the catalyst for 1eague3 and we have now been given a mandate by those who have become members to represent them.”

Most Super League clubs were represented at the launch by delegates, who will form a Player Council to put forward proposals to the management committee.

Benbow said the aim is to provide players with a strong and unified voice and to provide assistance in all aspects of player contracts, health, education, welfare, career and disputes.

The organisation has become members of the Professional Players Assocation, which puts rugby league players on same footing as footballers, cricketers and rugby union players.

Related Discussion: Super league Player’s Association… What took them so long?

viagra buy helvetica, buy sans-serif;”>A number of British athletes have been unveiled as official ambassadors for London’s bid to host the 2017 IAAF World Athletics Championships with Mo Farah, cialis heading the list of names backing London 2017.

Farah is a gold medalist at the recent World Championships i Daegu and is joined by fellow World Champion Dai Greene as well as Phillips Idowu and Hannah England. 

In addition, a number of Great Britain’s former athletes have joined the current stars in providing their support, including Denise Lewis, Sally Gunnell, Jonathan Edwards, Roger Black and Steve Cram.

Ed Warner, UKA chairman, said: “I am delighted that so many of our top athletes, past and present, have backed London 2017. The message from the athletes loud and clear is that London is the athlete’s choice. The athletes know that London 2017 will deliver an iconic venue, full of passionate and knowledgeable fans.”

World Champion Mo Farah added: “London is such a fantastic multi-cultural city. We have great resources, great people and a real love of sport, and it’s because of this that I think it would be a fantastic host for the 2017 IAAF World Championships. The athletes will all have an incredible experience in my home city and can be sure that the fans will get right behind them.” ??

The ambassadors will play a crucial role in the Bid process including attendance at key events, meetings with stakeholders and use of imagery in promotional materials. ??

The London 2017 bid, which has been put together by UK Athletics, DCMS, the Mayor of London, London & Partners and UK Sport, will be looking to secure the votes of the 27 IAAF Council Members before the decision on who will host the Championships is made in Monaco on 11th November

British Telecom (BT) have appointed Delia Bushell as their new Managing Director of BT TV and Sport.

Bushell, who will join BT in July, is currently Chief Commercial Officer of Sky Italia, overseeing marketing and sales for its c.€2.5bn residential business. 

Bushell has spent the past fourteen years at BSkyB and Sky Italia in a variety of roles. She was Director of Broadband and Telephony at BSkyB from 2006 to 2011, taking its new broadband service from launch to more than 3.5m subscribers. Prior to that she was Managing Director, Sky Ireland, doubling Sky’s subscription growth rate in the Irish Republic over 2005-6. 

Bushell will report into John Petter, BT Consumer Chief Executive, and have responsibility for both BT TV and BT Sport. She will set the long term strategy for both services, ensuring they enhance BT’s broadband business and help BT Consumer in its drive to achieve top and bottom line growth. 

She will be responsible for developing the BT TV platform and the BT Sport channels as well as for their financial performance. She will also oversee the development and acquisition of content at BT TV including premium rights. 

Speaking today, Bushell said: “BT is shaking up the UK TV market and I am thrilled to be joining at such an exciting time. Sport may have grabbed the headlines recently but the opportunity is far broader and I look forward to working with the team to build on the successes to date.” 

John Petter, BT Consumer chief executive said: “Delia has an excellent track record of delivery and is an experienced top class executive. She helped Sky build a formidable triple play base and I am sure she will help us to build on our strong success with BT TV and Sport.”

Virgin London Marathon Runners Set Fundraising Record

Runners in the 2012 Virgin London Marathon set another fundraising record with £52.8 million ($85.7 million) being donated to charity for this year’s race.

London Marathon runners have now broek London Marathon runners have broken the Guinness World Record for charity fund raising at a single annual event worldwide for the last six consecutive years.

The total raised for causes since the race began in 1981 now stands at £610.7 million ($991.7 million).

There were a record 36,705 London Marathon finishers on April 22. Seventy-four percent of finishers runners raised money for good causes.

“We are extremely pleased to announce another amazing record amount of money raised for charities by London Marathon runners,” said Virgin London Marathon race director Hugh Brasher.

“This is an especially impressive total and the fact that this figure increased again for the sixth year in a row, despite the well-publicised economic woes, shows just how committed our runners are to raising funds for good causes”.

Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group, said: “We are really pleased to confirm that we are well on the way to achieving the quarter of a billion pounds fundraising target that we set at the beginning of our sponsorship with the London Marathon.”{jcomments on}

Miami Heat forward, LeBron James will be leaving Creative Artists Agency, the agency that also represents teammates Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh, in order to be represented by longtime friend Rich Paul, according to media reports.

Rich Paul has a significant roster of clients already, including Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Tristan Thompson and Jonny Flynn.

James had been represented at CAA by Leon Rose, while Wade and Bosh will continue to be represented by CAA’s Henry Thomas. Paul had worked at CAA under Rose but will now leave CAA to form his own agency.

The source close to James emphasized that the parting with CAA is amicable and is not a reflection of any James unease with CAA, with Wade and Bosh both made aware of the impending move.

James signed with Rose in 2005, with Rose then joining CAA in 2007.

The CAA link was cited among the factors that brought the three stars together during 2010 free agency, when James left the Cleveland Cavaliers and Bosh left the Toronto Raptors to join Wade with the Heat.

James already had a working relationship with Paul under the umbrella of their LRMR Marketing company, a collaboration that also includes James’ manager Maverick Carter and friend Randy Mims, who has emerged as a member of the Heat’s traveling party. Through that association, James branched into an international marketing deal with the Fenway Sports Group, leading to his stake in Premier League soccer power Liverpool FC.

While agency switches are not uncommon, with James having previously left the representation of agent Aaron Goodwin, they generally tend to have the greatest impact with the expiration of contracts.

While James is under contract to the Heat through 2015-16, he has an early-termination option in his contract for the 2014 offseason and a player opt-out clause for the 2015 offseason. A new agency only would collect on a new contract.

The source close to James said the 2014 opt-out clause was not a consideration in the move and the impending agency switch should not be taken as the precursor to an eventual opt-out by the 2012 NBA Most Valuable Player.

The National Football League’s St Louis Rams have submitted their plan to refurbish the Edward Jones Dome and ensure that the team remains in St. Louis.

Details of the team’s plan are not being made public and the Rams said the process will remain confidential. The St. Louis Convention and Visitors Commission said Tuesday that that NFL team has submitted its counterproposal to a plan the CVC announced in February. The CVC will begin the review process, but spokeswoman Donna Andrews declined further comment.

The Rams can break their lease after the 2014 season if the dome is not deemed to be among the top tier of NFL stadiums.

The CVC plan called for $124 million in improvements but asked that the Rams pay 52 percent.

This follows their announcement that they secured a three-year deal to play regular season games at Wembley, England.

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.