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.

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.

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 (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.”

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.