2015 Inas Global Games Awarded to Ecuador

The International Federation for sport for athletes with an intellectual impairment (Inas) has announced today that the 4th Inas Global Games will be held in Guayaquil, ed Ecuador.

The Games, shop which opens on 20 September 2015, is a week-long event featuring eight sports and is expected to attract more than 1,000 of the world’s elite athletes with an intellectual impairment.

It is the first time the event will have been held outside of Europe, following Games in Sweden, Czech Republic and Italy, and it will take place just a year before the 2016 Paralympic Games in Brazil.

Ecuador was chosen ahead of Croatia and Colombia, in a closely fought bid contest.

Nick Parr, Executive Director at Inas applauded all three bidding nations: “The Global Games are the pinnacle event in the Inas calendar and we received three excellent bids. The Governing Board faced a difficult task finding the winner and I would like to congratulate everybody involved in the Ecuador bid on their success. Inas looks forward to a fantastic event in a little over two year’s time.”

The Games will feature the following sports: athletics, swimming, table tennis, rowing, basketball, futsal, tennis and cycling. A decision regarding the inclusion of any demonstration sports will be made shortly.

Floyd Mayweather Becomes Highest Paid Athlete in the World

Floyd Mayweather has replaced Tiger Woods as the highest paid athlete in the world, according to Forbes new shortlist.

Forbes.com named Mayweather its highest-paid athlete over the last year. Mayweather earned $85 million, knocking golfer Tiger Woods out of the top spot that he has held since 2001. Woods fell to third behind another boxer, Manny Pacquiao, who earned $62 million. Woods took home $59.4 million.

Mayweather, who is currently serving an 87-day jail sentence in Las Vegas, earned his $85 million for a little more than an hour’s work in the ring. He knocked out Victor Ortiz in the fourth round last September, earning $40 million, then dispatched Miguel Cotto by a unanimous 12-round decision on May 5, taking home $45 million.

Because Mayweather acts as his own promoter, he maximizes his earnings. His company, Mayweather Promotions, collects all of the revenue from tickets, pay-per-view and sponsorships and covers the costs, including the purse for his opponent. His earnings per fight is about 50% higher than Pacquiao, who is promoted by Top Rank, earns.

None of Mayweather’s earnings came from endorsements. Pacquiao had $6 million in endorsements, while Woods, according to Forbes, made $55 million of his earnings through endorsements.

While Mayweather is one of sports’ most polarizing figures, he also knows how to create a buzz, which causes a lot of people to buy his pay-per-view fights. Mayweather has been a part of the four biggest non-heavyweight PPV events in boxing history. His fight with Cotto generated $94 million in PPV buys.

Pacquiao fought Juan Manuel Marquez and Tim Bradley. which earned him $56 million, including revenue he gets from their broadcast in the Philippines. Pacquiao has become boxing’s biggest advertising magnet, doing endorsements for Nike, Hewlett-Packard, Monster Energy and Hennessy.

LeBron James leads the 13 basketball players who made the cut in the top 100, ranking fourth overall with earnings of $53 million. James had his salary cut 20% by the NBA lockout, but continues to be an endorsement king, making $40 million from sponsors like Nike, Coca-Cola, State Farm and McDonald’s.

Of the 30 NFL players on the list, Peyton Manning is the highest-paid player with earnings of $42.4 million, 10th overall. The Indianapolis Colts paid Manning $26.4 million in 2011 even though he missed the season recovering from neck surgery. Manning continues to be the NFL’s top pitchman, earning $10 million from Reebok, Gatorade, Sony, DirecTV, Wheaties and Papa John’s.

Two women made the top 100, both tennis players. Maria Sharapova ranks No. 26 with $27.9 million in earnings. Li Na ranks 81st with earnings of $18.4 million.

Worcestershire Cricket Club Reveal Ground Redevelopment Plans

English county cricket team Worcestershire are planning a £10million ($15.3m) redevelopment of their New Road ground.

Premier Inn have submitted a planning application to build a 120-bedroom hotel and restaurant in the venue.

Whitbread – Premier Inn’s parent company – is investing £7.5million ($11.5m) in the hotel and restaurant.

In addition, the Royals are also investing in excess of £2.5million ($3.82m) to create new conference and executive facilities at the ground.

A detailed planning application for the hotel and executive suites was submitted to Worcester City Council last month.

Should planning permission be granted by the council, construction is expected to start in September this year.

The development is crucial to Worcestershire’s hopes of long-term financial stability.

Chief executive David Leatherdale said: “We have a simple business strategy at Worcestershire CCC which is to make the club’s finances more sustainable in the long term and drive on-field success.

“Using our property assets effectively is at the heart of this process.

“The addition of a Premier Inn and new facilities for the club will transform our ground into a 365-day-a-year venue, securing our position as one of only 18 first-class counties.”

FIFA End Manchester United Hope Of Champions League Reinstatement

FIFA (International Federation of Association Footbal) have announced that their threat to suspend the Swiss Football Association (SFV) will not come to pass.

In confirming this, FC Basle will remain in European competition and there is subsequently no longer a possibility of the re-entrance of Manchester United into this season’s Champions League in their stead.

The world governing body had demanded the SFV take action against FC Scion for floating transfer sanctions, and gave a deadline of January 13th which was ultimately redundant as the Swiss FA docked the club 36 points on the penultimate day of 2011.

The decision to dock three points for every game which featured one of the so-called ineligible players (signed after the embargo was enforced) seems to have placated FIFA.

FIFA stated, “The FIFA emergency committee decided [on] 5 January 2012 to consider the requirements established by the FIFA executive committee on 16 December 2011 as fulfilled by the Swiss Football Association (SFV) and that the SFV will consequently not be suspended in relation to the FIFA executive committee’s decision of 16 December.”

They also issued a caveat as a warning to the SFV, “However, FIFA has requested the SFV to keep the international football governing body informed on any future developments with regards to this matter.”

Tiger Woods Returns to Brand Endorsement

American golfer Tiger Woods has signed an endorsement deal with Japanese pain relief brand Vantelin Kowa.

According to a tweet by CNBC’s sports business reporter Darren Rovell, the thirty-five year old, who is currently ranked at number 17 in the world, will start appearing in advertising campaigns from July.

The deal marks a return to brand endorsement for Woods, who was dropped by a number of companies, including Gillette and Accenture, after his well-documented marital infidelities in 2009.

Nagoya-based Kowa Company manufactures a range of pharmaceutical products, including pain relieving creamy gels and adhesive patches.

The Japanese company, in a press release, said: “Kowa Company Ltd. is pleased to announce the use of Tiger Woods as the image character of Antiphlogistic Analgetic Vantelin Kowa series.”

While financial terms of the agreement have not been disclosed, the former world number one has a history of landing multi-million dollar endorsement deals.

Wakefield Wildcats Takeover Lifts Administration

Rugby Football League (RFL) club Wakefield Wildcats have survived after being rescued by administration following the sale of the club to private investment company Spirit of 1873.

The sale of the Super League team is not yet rubber-stamped and is subject to written confirmation from the RFL that the owner of Spirit of 1873, vcialis 40mg Andrew Glover, sale passes the governing body’s ‘fit and proper person’ test.

Spirit of 1873 will now take full ownership of the club and allow the Wildcats to continue to play their matches at their historic ground, medical Belle Vue for the 2011 Engage Super League season.

A club statement confirmed the news, stating: “Spirit of 1873 Ltd is delighted to announce that it has today reached an agreement with O’Hara’s, the administrators of Wakefield Trinity Rugby League Football Club Limited, to acquire the Wakefield Trinity Wildcats. At the core of our plans is securing the financial stability which will allow us to support the team on the field and give our fans the experience and success they deserve.

“We are looking forward to working closely with our Club’s famously loyal fans, the wider Wakefield community and all our sponsors and supporters to build a stable, commercially viable and successful future for this great Club.”

New York Red Bulls ‘not for sale’ says MLS Commissioner Garber

The New York Red Bulls are ‘not for sale’ according to MLS commissioner Don Garber after recent reports suggested buyers were interested.

“I can absolutely assure you that the New York Red Bulls are not for sale,” Garber said. “Both the owner and the management team in Austria and in New York are as committed as ever to Major League Soccer, the club and their fans.”

Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz purchased the club in 2006, when the club carried the MetroStars moniker. Since then the club has invested in a new stadium (Red Bull Arena), a new practice facility in Hannover, NJ and multiple Designated Players, including current DPs Thierry Henry and Tim Cahill.

“There are no plans to sell the New York Red Bulls,” read the club’s statement. “While interest in soccer continues to grow in the U.S. and MLS continues to expand, Red Bull is confident now more than ever in the investment and committed to the franchise and its supporters.”

In addition to the New York MLS club, Red Bull also owns other soccer clubs around the world: RB Leipzig (Germany), Red Bull Salzburg (Austria), Red Bull Brasil (Brazil) and Red Bull Ghana in Africa.

Eurosport France to Launch First Ever Show Dedicated to Women’s Football

Eurosport enhances its status as of the No.1 women’s sports broadcaster in Europe with the launch of the first ever show entirely dedicated to women’s football in France.

The show, pills called “Femmes 2 Foot”, will air every Monday evening at 22h50 from September 22 on the pan-European broadcaster’s French local channel. The one-hour show will focus on the French Women’s Premier League (D1 Féminine), for which Eurosport France is the rights holder, with a mix of information, results and interviews. “Femmes 2 Foot” will also feature news about the Champions League, the French Cup and the French National team. 

Each week a special guest from the world of women’s football will be present in the studio together with the three hosts Candice Prévost, Cécile Locatelli and Romain Balland.

{jcomments on}

FIA World Endurance Championship Appoints Andrew Craig to Push Development in North America

The FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) has appointed Andrew Craig as its Permanent Representative for North America as the FIA looks for development in the region.. 

Craig’s responsibilities include the overall development of the North American market for endurance racing including the development of an enhanced TV platform for the WEC and optimizing the visibility of the series for its participating auto manufactures and sponsors. A core element of Craig’s role will be to ensure the growth of the WEC race at Circuit of the Americas, impotent Austin, ambulance TX. on September 20th 2014.

Commenting on the appointment Gerard Neveu, CEO of FIA WEC, said: “We would like to welcome Andrew Craig to the WEC team.  His immediate responsibility is to help establish the 6 Hours of Circuit of the Americas event in Texas and also to promote the WEC brand across North America, which is an extremely important territory for the ACO, the WEC and its partners.  Andrew Craig has our complete confidence and we look forward to seeing the results from his endeavors in 2014.” 

Craig commented, “The FIA World Endurance Championship has seen substantial growth in manufacturer participation and fan interest since its launch in 2012 and has great potential for the future. Building the North American market is a priority for WEC and crucial to the long-term success of the series. 

The 2014 FIA World Endurance series commences at Silverstone, UK on April 20th and includes rounds at Spa -Francorchamps, Belgium, The Le Mans 24 Hour Race, Circuit of the America’s, Texas, Fuji, Japan, Shanghai, China and Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Gold Coast 2018 Unveils Commonwealth Games Logo

Gold Coast has unveiled the logo for the 2018 Commonwealth Games exactly five years before the start of the games.

Combining elements of the Gold Coast’s skyline and beaches as well as sports featured in the Games, the logo received a big tick from Australian athletes who attended the launch.

Former swimmer Kieren Perkins and Olympic 100m hurdles champion Sally Pearson were among those impressed by the bright and instantly recognisable image.

“It really shows what the Gold Coast is all about,” Pearson told reporters.

“I’m really excited by it.”

The logo launch is the first big step towards the Gold Coast hosting the Games in 2018 and the city’s acting mayor Donna Gates said the unveiling of the logo will give the event a boost within the community.

“We all remember how excited we were back in 2011 when we learned the city had won the rights to host the Commonwealth Games, and this major milestone keeps the Gold Coast and the state of Queensland firmly on the world stage,” Ms Gates said.