The Adidas Group is looking to expand the adidas brand by using the UEFA Euro 2012 as a platform to achieve market leadership in Poland by 2015. 

They also want market leadership in the Ukraine, and where adidas is already the clear market leader, ed the brand wants to extend its leadership position. 

Herbert Hainer, order chief executive officer of the adidas Group, said: “As the Official Partner of UEFA Euro 2012, we will use the event to reach market leadership in Poland by 2015 and take over category leadership in football in 2012.

“This is the first time a major tournament like the UEFA Euro will be hosted by Poland and the Ukraine. We are very excited about the upcoming event and plan to leverage UEFA Euro 2012 internationally to showcase our brand and our innovative and exciting products.” 

Adidas is the Official Sponsor, Supplier and Licensee of UEFA Euro 2012, which also provides the Official Match Ball and supplies the equipment for all officials, referees, volunteers and various youth programs such as ball kids and player escorts. 

The flurry of products for UEFA Euro 2012 will be available for consumers at the end of 2011.

Rugby League’s Super League competition has announced the teams that have secured a licence for next season’s competition. League bosses have said that Crusaders will drop out of the competition in 2012 after withdrawing their application for a licence renewal.

Widnes had already had their promotion from the Championship confirmed for next season and with no league expansion planned, one of the current Super League clubs was certain to be demoted.

In an announcement made this morning, the Rugby Football League confirmed that Crusaders will make way for the Vikings in what will be the only change to the competition’s make up.

Wakefield were thought to be the club most at risk of losing their place, but the Wildcats have had their licence renewed and are given an unexpected reprieve.

Halifax were in the running to join Widnes as a new Super League club but their bid for a licence ultimately proved unsuccessful.

Harlequins and Castleford were also thought to be under threat of demotion but as expected have been given new three-year licences.

Interim Southampton FC chief executive Gareth Rogers has been appointed the role on a full-time basis.

Rogers, the club’s former chief financial officer, took over as temporary CEO after former chairman Nicola Cortese’s exit in January.

Cortese resigned after his relationship with owner Katharina Liebherr broke down and Southampton’s future looked uncertain with manager Mauricio Pochettino tipped to follow Cortese out of the club.

However, Rogers moved quickly to stabilise the club and in a statement on Tuesday he said: “It is a real privilege and an honour to be confirmed as chief executive officer of Southampton.

“It is clear from every facet of the club that a real sense of potential exists and we intend to continue to strive in order to reach this.

“Whilst there is significant work ahead of us, I look forward and am excited by the challenge of helping the club to grow, both on and off the pitch, as we strive for long-term success.”

Chairman Ralph Krueger, who was appointed Cortese’s long-term successor earlier this month, added: “Gareth has done an excellent job leading our operation through a challenging and transitional two months.

“In that time he has proved himself to be decisive, open to innovation and able to inspire others to share his great values, and his appointment is another important step forward for our team.”

Erstream, pills a Turkey-based media services provider, ed and Octoshape, an industry leader in cloud-based streaming technology, announced today that they have been selected by the Turkish Basketball Federation (TBF) to provide broadband TV video distribution services to fans in Turkey and around the world.

In a new web portal developed by Erstream, TBF holds approximately 10 highly popular events per week, and in most cases these events are only available on the web.

The partnership leverages Octoshape’s Infinite HD-M Federated Multicast platform to enhance the video quality of TBF’s streaming globally. Octoshape’s advanced video distribution technology provides high definition Internet video regardless of the geographic location, connectivity or network conditions of the viewer.

“We wanted to make sure the new user experience of the TBF portal lived up to the brand expectation,” said Tatyana Levitskaya, EMEA Sales Director of Erstream. “With Octoshape’s Infinite HD-M we are able to guarantee that the end-users of TBF will always enjoy the highest quality available, and that they experience the basketball games in near real-time.”

“With TBF’s rapidly growing Internet user base, they required not only TV-like scale and quality, but also innovative business terms,” said Michael Koehn Milland, CEO of Octoshape. “By implementing our technology, TBF was able to raise their consumer quality expectations while keeping the video-delivery costs under control.”

“We are very excited with the result of the combined solution provided by Erstream and Octoshape,” said Murat Biricik, IT Manager at the Turkish Basketball Federation. “Our web destination is now growing 10 percent week over week with satisfied users. Our goal was to exceed the consumer expectation, and with our new technology partners, we feel we have not only exceeded the consumer expectation, but also our own.”

“The advanced technology solutions provided by Erstream and Octoshape have been a perfect fit for our web TV project,” said Serdar Ates, Media Manager at TBF. “We have had a growing number of online viewers and we had to meet their high level of expectations with perfection. Thanks to our partnership with Erstream and Octoshape, today we are glad to succeed at our goal.”

Just Marketing International (JMI), thumb the world’s largest motorsports marketing agency, order has been named the motorsports agency of record for Mazda North American Operations through 2014.

The agency has been retained to provide strategic guidance to Mazda and strengthen marketing communications efforts between the manufacturer’s product line and its motorsports program. JMI will also guide and support Mazda on its current properties and partnerships. 

Working in conjunction with the WPP agency group, generic Garage Team Mazda, JMI will use its expertise and global services of research, strategy and consulting, integrated marketing communications, partnership development, and program management for this partnership.

“Mazda and JMI share a passion for motorsports,” said Zak Brown, Founder & CEO, JMI. “Garage Team Mazda is a collection of many dynamic individuals who are relentless in their pursuit of success. We are proud to become part of this team and look forward to merging racetrack success with powerful product marketing,” he added.

“JMI brings a wealth of expertise and experience to our motorsports marketing efforts,” said Jay Amestoy, Vice President, Public Affairs & Motorsports for Mazda North American Operations.  “We are looking to JMI to help us better communicate to our target customer how more than four decades of racing accomplishments have contributed to even better road-going Mazdas and how our advanced engineering, such as SKYACTIV Technologies, will drive future success on the track and the street.”

Through a petition Military veterans and their supporters will call on the U.S. Marines Corps to refrain from using taxpayer money to sponsor the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

They will deliver 5, click 000 petitions to Marine Corps recruiting stations in seven cities, including Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, Phoenix, San Diego and Washington, D.C. as well as to the Commandant of the Marine Corps at the Marine Corps Barracks in Washington, D.C.

The veteran activists also will voice their support for a bipartisan amendment to the Department of Defense Appropriations Act (H.R. 5856) that would ban military spending on professional sports. The proposed ban – the “UFC Amendment” — would prohibit the use of taxpayer money to sponsor the UFC and other pro sports organizations.

The Marine Corps has spent more than $2 million sponsoring the UFC, the nation’s largest promoter of cage fighting events.

“As a Marine, I am deeply offended that the Marine Corps would ever associate itself with organizations that tolerate homophobia and hate speech like the UFC,” said Ryan Hand, a former Corporal of the Marine Corps and member of UNITE HERE New England Joint Board Local 406 in Saco, Maine. “As a taxpayer, our money can be better spent elsewhere, particularly as the Defense Department prepares deep cuts to the military.”

In a letter to the Commandant of the Marine Corps, General James F. Amos, the Veterans Committee of UNITE HERE wrote, “We believe that, by aligning with the UFC, an organization that has tolerated homophobia, misogyny and hate speech, the Marine Corps is violating its stated commitment of `maintaining dignity and respect for one another.’ Homophobia and hatred, in any form, are not consistent with the values that make the Marines an elite fighting force.”

In der DKB-Arena von Zweitligist FC Hansa Rostock hat das Rostocker Fanprojekt gemeinsam mit Soziale Bildung e.V. ein Lernzentrum für politische Bildung eröffnet.

Die Kurse und Workshops richten sich vor allem an junge Menschen aus Rostock und Mecklenburg-Vorpommern im Alter von zehn bis 27 Jahren.

Im Stadion lernen die Jugendlichen, denture sich kritisch und konstruktiv mit Themen wie Jugendkultur, cough Globalisierung, sozialer Ungleichheit, Rechtsextremismus und Rassismus auseinanderzusetzen. Mit einem zusätzlichen Trainingsmodul werden zudem Jugendtrainer und Mannschaftsbetreuer geschult, um Jugendlichen diese Themen besser näher bringen zu können. Die Robert Bosch Stiftung und die Bundesliga-Stiftung fördern das Rostocker Lernzentrum im Rahmen des Projektes Lernort Stadion mit 50.000 Euro. Das Projekt Lernort Stadion kooperiert somit jetzt in neun deutschen Städten mit den Fanprojekten der Clubs der Bundesliga und 2. Bundesliga.

„Die Begeisterung für den Fußball und seine Stars bietet die Chance, politikverdrossene junge Menschen zu erreichen und für gesellschaftliche Diskussionen zu gewinnen”, sagt Dr. Ingrid Hamm, Geschäftsführerin der Robert Bosch Stiftung.

„Mit den Lernzentren schaffen wir es, über den Fußball Kinder und Jugendliche für Bildungsthemen zu begeistern, die auf dem klassischen Bildungsweg nicht mehr erreicht werden”, sagt Kurt Gaugler, Geschäftsführendes Vorstandsmitglied der Bundesliga-Stiftung. „Wir investieren durch die Lernzentren in die Zukunft der Jugend, diese Verantwortung übernimmt der Fußball gerne.”

Die Idee zum Lernen im Stadion stammt aus England. Seit den 90er-Jahren fördern dort Fußballclubs Jugendliche mit zusätzlichen Bildungsangeboten. 2006 wurde das Konzept vom Fanprojekt Dortmund erstmals in Deutschland übernommen.

The much anticipated release of documents detailing FIFA’s dealings with its former marketing agency ISL looks set to be further delayed, this time by several months, after appeals to block publication and keep the file secret were sent to Switzerland’s Supreme Court.

FIFA President Sepp Blatter revealed in October last year that documents relating to the 11-year-old case would at last be released as part of FIFA’s attempt to sweep away corruption under its two-year road map to reform.

In December a local Zug court backed that stance by calling on FIFA to publish the dossier naming those who allegedly took kickbacks from World Cup broadcast deals.

But the Swiss Federal Tribunal now says it has opened five separate case files, submitted by unidentified third parties, that will take several months to process.

The documents are reported to name a string of high ranking FIFA officials who allegedly took bribes from ISL prior to its 2001 collapse with debts of $300 million (£190 million) but who are now keen to protect their anonymity.

Those implicated are reported to include former FIFA President João Havelange, who resigned his 48-year membership of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in December days ahead of an Ethics Committee hearing when he could have been suspended; his former son-in-law, Ricardo Teixeira, President of the Brazilian Football Federation (CBF) and Brazil 2014; Paraguay’s Nicolás Leoz, President of the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL); and Confederation of African Football (CAF) leader Issa Hayatou.

The latest delay represents another frustrating blow to Blatter in his attempts to repair FIFA’s image and make it more transparent.

Dealing with the ISL case is a crucial part of the reform process following a series of scandals at world football’s governing body.

John Hancock Financial Services, sale a Boston division of Manulife Financial Corp and principal sponsor of the Boston Marathon has declared runners participating on behalf of various charities raised nearly $16 million this year in the 115th Boston Marathon, up from $14.4 million the previous year.

John Hancock’s Marathon Non-Profit Program works closely with the Boston Athletic Association’s Official Charity Program to help raise money for nonprofits and community service groups. The BAA manages the Boston Marathon.

As principal sponsor of the Boston Marathon, John Hancock is allocated a number of marathon bibs each year. Most of those bibs are distributed to nonprofit organizations as part of the John Hancock Marathon Non-Profit Program.  Those nonprofits included Massachusetts General Hospital, Joslin Diabetes Center, and Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary.

In 2011, the John Hancock program raised more than $5.3 million, compared with $4.3 million in 2010.

Over the past 26 years, the BAA Official Charity Program and John Hancock Marathon Program have combined to raise more than $150 million dollars