USA Triathlon have elected five candidates to the USA Triathlon Board of Directors.

Three incumbents were re-elected: Susan Haag (Jacksonville, order Fla.), viagra cheap who represents the Florida Region; Mike Wein (Marietta, drug Ga.), from the Southeast Region; and Steve Sexton (Pilot Hill, Calif.) as an Elite/Pro Athlete Representative. Haag and Wein will both serve four-year terms, while Sexton will serve a two-year term.

Two newly elected members of the USA Triathlon Board of Directors were also announced and will serve four-year terms: Kevin Haas (Berkeley, Calif.) will join as the Southwest Region Representative, and David Kuendig (Lexington, Ky.) as the Mideast Region Representative, having previously served on the Board as an Athlete Representative.

Also, two seats on the Athlete Advisory Council (AAC) were newly filled by Gwen Jorgensen (St. Paul, Minn.) and Joel Rosinbum (Austin, Texas). Sexton retains his seat on the AAC by virtue of his election to the Board as Elite/Pro Athlete Representative. They will all serve two-year terms.

Additionally, nine USA Triathlon Regions elected members to their respective Regional Councils, while two national bylaw proposals and one resolution were approved.

A potential joint San Diego-Tijuana bid will not be considered for the 2024 Summer Olympic Games as it doesn’t fall in line with the International Olympic Committee’s charter, it was revealed today.

Vince Mudd, a member of the new San Diego Olympic Host Committee said: “The International Olympic Committee put its foot down and said it will not change its charter.”

IOC rules don’t allow two countries to host an Olympic Games together.

Former San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders, now the President of the San Diego Chamber of Commerce said: “I thought a bi-national approach would be great but that doesn’t mean we can’t do it on our own.”

San Diego are also looking at plans to bid for the games on their own with Sanders suggesting they have analysed 2024, 2028 and 2033 for potential bids.

Any potential bid San Diego will cost in the upwards of $70 million followed by an international bid at a price of $250 million and an operations cost of $3 billion, not including construction costs, Mudd said.

The USA TODAY Sports Media Group announced the formation of USA TODAY Sports Digital Properties.

This division brings together the BNQT action sports properties and several recent acquisitions, including MMAjunkie.com and its associated UFC and mixed-martial arts properties, and the Big Lead Sports mainstream sports properties. The result is one unified collection of premium sports inventory that allows advertisers to reach sports enthusiasts at scale while providing unique and extensive targeting opportunities.

As part of USA TODAY Sports Digital Properties’ formation, longtime digital industry executive Chris Pirrone has been named General Manager, overseeing operations.

“USA TODAY Sports Digital Properties is designed to strategically integrate our premium sports properties to create compelling content for sports fans,” said Tom Beusse, President of the USA TODAY Sports Media Group. “Chris brings the digital marketing expertise necessary to lead this team, which we believe will make USA TODAY Sports Digital Properties a one-stop shop for fans, and for brand advertisers seeking to engage sports fans in meaningful and unique ways.”

“As one of the most-visited sports properties online, our audience reach and scale is immense,” said Pirrone. “USA TODAY Sports Digital Properties is in a truly unique and enviable position to help agencies and advertisers drive sales and build brand awareness by engaging an enthusiastic audience of mainstream and action sports fans with custom executions across premium TV, print, display, mobile, video and social channels.”

Pirrone has more than ten years of experience in the digital marketing space. He joins the USA TODAY Sports Media Group from Traffic Marketplace where he served as Executive Vice President and General Manager of Premium Display, Mobile and Video Digital Advertising. Prior to that, he served as Chief Administrative Officer and General Counsel at Connexus Corporation and Associate General Counsel at ValueClick, Inc. A native of Buffalo, N.Y., Pirrone earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from St. Lawrence University in Canton, N.Y., and a J.D. from The University of Akron School of Law.

The USA TODAY Sports Media Group is currently the fourth-largest digital sports audience with nearly 23 million unique monthly users, according to the May comScore report. USA TODAY Sports Digital Properties is comprised of national, local and enthusiast sport audiences; 11 directly owned and operated digital sports properties; 500 exclusive representative and partner sites; and 15 sports channels dedicated to reaching vertical sports enthusiasts.

Liverpool Football Club have taken the decision to stay with its original Stanley Park stadium plan over a futuristic design redeveloping Anfield proposed by former owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr., according to The Telegraph.

The new owners, Fenway Sports Group, have been working with an architect firm to design a stadium in Stanley Park, which was the intention dating as far back as 2000. Those plans were abandoned for a futuristic-looking stadium when Hicks and Gillett took over the team in 2006, but the former owners could not adequately finance the project.

Fenway Sports Group decided to move forward with the move to Stanley Park after a year of unsuccessfully trying to redevelop the team’s current home, Anfield.

The plan to move to Stanley Park still needs its own financing to proceed, but now that the course of action has been officially decided, there will be less obstacles, according to The Telegraph.

In August last year, housing minister Grant Shapps sparked a row by writing to the club, urging it to make a decision on whether to begin work on expanding and redeveloping the existing stadium on Anfield Road or to build a new one in Stanley Park.

He said: “In the interests of the wider community, the club needs to make a swift decision on whether they plan to build a new stadium or stay where they are – either way the residents around Anfield need to know.

“The delay is causing unnecessary uncertainty for the community. Local residents are living in limbo.”

But the club’s managing director Ian Ayre criticised Shapps for not understanding the complexity of the decision-making process.

He said: “It is extremely disappointing that Mr Shapps should publicly point the finger at Liverpool FC and claim that they alone are delaying the regeneration of the local area, when he is fully aware of the impact of central government cutbacks on the whole city.

“In particular, the demise of the Housing Market Renewal Initiative seven years into a 15 year programme in Anfield has created huge uncertainty for the local community which dwarfs the effect any delay on a stadium has had.”

Have your say in Liverpool’s stadium decision, join our discussion here

Bayern Munich president Uli Hoeness has spoken of his reservations about Sepp Blatter remaining at the helm of FIFA.

Hoeness has asserted that the president of football’s governing body should be replaced if he fails to cleanse the game of the various ills that befell it in 2011.

He stated in an interview with German daily paper Sueddeutsche Zeitung, “Blatter must clearly explain in the next 12 months how he wants to dry out this swamp, and if he doesn’t do that, one must create possibilities to depose him.

“Every week something new comes up. We have been quiet for a while because we had the feeling that it was sorting itself out. But now we will once again put the matter on the boil”.

His comments echo the words of the German footballing giant’s CEO, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, who lampooned the “daily corruption process at FIFA” in a speech in his role as Chair of the European Club Association in 2011.

Blatter was re-elected as FIFA president for the fourth time last year in spite of an annus horribilis for the 75-year-old which featured bribery and corruption scandals, as well as the racism furore.

A three-year partnership has been agreed between Professional Sports Group and The Boat Race Company Ltd (BRCL), cough the organisers of the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race, which will see the UK and Middle East based sports marketing agency handle sponsorship, marketing, PR and community event management for the event. 

The team at Professional Sports Group was selected by the board of BRCL after a highly competitive tender process to deliver a new strategy for the event from 2012 to 2014, including the sourcing of a new title sponsor from 2013. 

Jamie Cunningham, CEO Professional Sports Group, said: “We are delighted to have been chosen by one of Britain’s leading sporting and cultural events as their business partner. 

“The Boat Race has a landmark position in the annual sporting calendar and the British psyche. We are confident that we can create an even stronger commercial platform for both sponsors and licensees, whilst improving the spectator experience for students, Londoners and visitors alike.”

Cunningham will oversee the partnership on behalf of PSG, supported by Michela Chiappa on sponsorship and Jed Moore on communications and the team will include Sir Matthew Pinsent, who rowed in three boat races between 1990 and 1993, as a consultant.

Cunningham continued: “The 2012 Xchanging Boat Race will mark the start of the greatest ever Summer of Sport in London and, as such, will provide both existing and new partners with a unique opportunity to engage a London, British and International audience.”

David Searle, CEO of The Boat Race Company Ltd added: “The team at Professional Sports Group put together a well thought out and professional strategy. It is important for us to maintain the core tradition of the Boat Race, whilst modernising both the sponsorship and communication elements. 

“We are confident that we have the right partner, particularly given their business relationship with Sir Matthew Pinsent. We are very much looking forward to working with PSG.”

After the tragic events of the earthquake in Christchurch yesterday, symptoms February 22, price that killed at least 75 people, the region’s leading rugby official claimed that the city may not be able to host its 2011 Rugby World Cup matches.

Hamish Riach, chief executive officer of the Canterbury Rugby Football Union, told Television New Zealand: “Right now it doesn’t feel like we could host very much at all,” adding that it was too early to be sure of the impact on the tournament because “everyone is in the immediacy of this traumatic event.”

Christchurch is set to stage the second highest number of games, seven at the AMI Stadium during the Sept. 9-Oct. 23 event, including two quarterfinals, while only Auckland, with nine, is scheduled to host more matches.

Rugby New Zealand 2011 CEO Martin Snedden said in an e-mailed statement: “A detailed evaluation of this nature will take place as soon as is reasonably possible. We are mindful of the pressure the people of Christchurch are under right now and do not want to place any more demands on them.”

Snedden went on to allay fears that the entire event is in jeopardy or that matches will be shifted to Australia, stating: “Rest assured, RWC 2011 will proceed and all matches will take place in New Zealand.”

Qatar in the Middle East has been announced as the host of the 2014 Italian Super Cup between champions Juventus and Cup holders Napoli on December 22.

Serie A President Maurizio Beretta made the announcement at a press conference in Paris on Monday along with the Qatar Football Association General Secretary Saoud Al Mohannadi.

“We are grateful for the opportunity to be able to export our Super Cup in an interesting and prestigious country like Qatar,” Beretta told reporters.

An announcement on the exact venue will be made at a later date, while Beretta said that the agreement is only for this year’s event as it stands.

The match is usually staged in August as the curtain-raiser to the Italian season and has been played abroad several times in the recent past, in Libya, the United States and in Beijing, which hosted the Super Cup in 2009, 2011 and 2012.

Super Rugby team Chiefs have elected a new Chairman and Vice Chairman at a club board meeting today.

Former Chiefs Chairman Dallas Fisher and Vice Chairman Matthew Boyd have both been re-appointed to their previous positions by the new Chiefs Rugby Club Board. 

Chiefs’ CEO Andrew Flexman “The re-appointment of Dallas and Matthew provides great continuity for our club.  They are both highly experienced in their respective roles and have added great value to our organisation and will continue to do so.”

Chiefs Rugby Club Chairman Dallas Fisher said: “I am very excited about being part of the new board and look forward to building on the success of the last few years. 

“Our business strategies combined with the new capital investment will ensure we continue to develop both on and off the field and Chiefs remain a world class organisation, impotent ” said Dallas Fisher

Matthew Boyd is pleased to have been selected as the Vice Chairman by the new board.  “Like Dallas, I am really looking forward to working with the new board and with all of the Chiefs Provincial Union partners and external investors. 

“We are all highly committed to taking the Chiefs Rugby Club to the next level which makes for a very exciting time for the organisation.” 

The Chiefs Rugby Club Board members are Dallas Fisher (Chairman), Matthew Boyd (Vice Chairman), Jon Mayson, Tony de Farias and Craig Norgate who are all independent board members and Craig Vincent and Philip Brown who are both investor board members.

The new board took over the governance of the Chiefs Rugby Club in February, having been appointed by the establishment board upon the issuing of a new license by New Zealand Rugby in December 2013.