Major League Soccer’s Sporting Kansas City today announced they have entered into a new multi-year agreement which will see California-based Match Analysis again delivering the team’s video and technical analysis.

Renewing the relationship provides Sporting KC Manager Peter Vermes and his technical staff with complete touch-by-touch video and statistical analysis using Match Analysis’s Mambo Studio. Detailed individual analytics, upcoming opponent analysis, and complete touch-by-touch player video provided through Match Analysis’s Tango Online is accessible online by all coaches and players, with coaches also now having the ability to send video directly to players using the Match Analysis’ proprietary Tango ToGo system.

“At Sporting KC we are certainly always at the forefront of technology,” said Vermes. “We are a forward-thinking club which prides itself on using cutting-edge tools to keep us one step ahead of the game. The Match Analysis product suite certainly provides me, my coaching staff and all the players with a fantastic set of tools that’s significantly ahead of the technology we’ve been using for the past couple of seasons.”

“It’s fantastic that we’ve rekindled our partnership with Sporting KC,” said Match Analysis President Mark Brunkhart. “Sporting KC, as a club, is a technological leader in a league known for being at the forefront of analytical technology.  We’re really excited about working with Peter and his staff to help them leverage the most advanced and powerful tools available in the performance analysis market.”

English sports retailer, JD Sports have reported that sales have been in line with forecasts so far this year and that the recently acquired Blacks Leisure business is expected to post a loss of up to £15 million.

For the 19 weeks to June 9, the sportswear retailer reported a 1.5 percent increase in like for like sales.

JD said its gross margins remained be under pressure and additional overhead spending will impact its core retail results, particularly in the first half.

The group also updated investors on the performance of the recently acquired Blacks Leisure business.

JD has previously reported that Blacks posted a £2.2 million loss for the three weeks to 28 January due to the lack of stock in the business and its “excessively large and over rented” store portfolio.

Today, JD said full year operating losses at Blacks are expected to be at around £10 million with the potential for a further £5 million charge for restructuring, the bulk of which will be recognised in the first half.

“Whilst the business continues to restructure its store portfolio and operate with legacy buying decisions, it is difficult to be more precise on the short term outlook, but we remain of the view that Black’s market position can be exploited profitably in the medium term,” said JD.

“Our immediate priority is to significantly improve the customer proposition.”

New Cardiff Blues chief executive Richard Holland has quashed rumours the club will move from current stadium Cardiff City Stadium back to former home Cardiff Arms Park as he vows to bring back the crowds to the stadium.

The 38-year-old has replaced the departed Robert Norster having previously held posts as executive director of Chepstow and Hereford racecourses, as well as being vice-president of corporate relations and sales at Celtic Manor.

He joins the region during what is proving to be a challenging time on and off the field for domestic rugby in Wales.

All four professional regions, the Blues, Scarlets, Ospreys and Dragons, have played in front of disappointing crowds this season, with the Blues currently averaging attendances of around 7,000, which contrasts with the 22,000 that Cardiff City regularly attract to Championship games.

The move to Cardiff City Stadium, where the Blues have played since 2009 after taking up a 20-year lease, has proved unpopular with a section of the region’s support and there had been speculation that they could make a return to the Arms Park.

But Holland insists that crowd numbers can be improved and that a move will not be necessary.

“We have two big weeks ahead with London Irish and Racing Metro in the Heineken Cup, particularly the Racing game which is at home,” he said. “I want to re-engage the critics who are not so keen on Cardiff City Stadium and also look at how we can open ourselves up to a new market.

“The stadium is brilliant, a fantastic facility, and the team need people to support them, especially for the game against Racing as we want to secure a home quarter-final and it would be brilliant to have that home quarter-final for the fans.

“The more people that come down the better the atmosphere and hopefully the team will perform in line with that.”

When asked about the prospect of a return to the Arms Park, he added: “My brief is to make it work at Cardiff City Stadium, full stop.

“I live in the north of Cardiff and I drive to the ground every day and it takes me 25 minutes. Over Christmas I caught the train to a game and it took me 17 minutes plus a short walk to the stadium.

“When I got there the facilities were world class. Our pricing structure is great value, £24 for a family ticket, two adults and two children, is very accessible.

“We go to great lengths to make it easier with a free shuttle to and from Cardiff. The football club gets a big crowd and that’s what I want to happen at the rugby.

“We need to engage with people in all four corners of our region and I will make sure we do that hopefully that will bear fruit.”

Doping offenders would be allowed back into the Team GB team if the British Olympic Association by-law banning them is expunged according to BOA chairman Lord Moynihan.

The BOA are to challenge the decision by the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) that the lifetime ban is “non-compliant” with their code at the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Both the BOA and Wada are hoping CAS will make a decision before the end of April.

Moynihan insisted the bylaw had the overwhelming support of British athletes, but said the likes of sprinter Dwain Chambers would be welcomed back into Team GB if the CAS ruling went against them.

“If (the bylaw) is overturned by the lawyers, you can rest assured they will be fully embraced into the team, they will have the same treatment as anybody else and we will wish them luck,” said Moynihan.

“We are going to CAS to try to win this case, we believe we need to do so on behalf of clean athletes and reflect the 90-95% of athletes who consistently ask for this selection policy.”

Moynihan said the BOA’s case was a strong one, adding: “We have full autonomy to decide who we are going to select and we believe that is a very strong position in front of CAS.

“This is not a sanction or double jeopardy, this is a selection policy. The right of team selectors is the basis for a strong appeal.”

Moynihan revealed the costs of the legal fight would be made public in end-of-year accounts.

He also rejected the suggestion that the BOA’s lifetime ban offered no chance of redemption for drugs cheats.

“Those who have knowingly cheated other athletes out of selection did so knowingly, they knew the consequences of it,” he added. “It doesn’t leave me angry, it leaves me very sad about those guys.

“They made the decision to cheat their fellow athletes, they knew the price they were going to pay and ultimately when you talk about redemption you’ve got to talk about the redemption of those clean athletes who were denied selection as a result of an athlete who was taking a cocktail of drugs to enhance their performance, and denied that athlete who has trained week in week out, year in year out, the chance of getting selected for the pinnacle of their sporting career, namely the Olympic Games.

“You never hear of them again, they get no redemption in the whole of their life,” Moynihan told BBC Radio Five Live.

“My worry at the moment is that the so-called World Anti-Doping Agency has a policy which is obviously different to us, that you only lose two years, however serious the offence is.

“So if you time it right after an Olympic Games, you would never miss an Olympic Games. Where’s the redemption for clean athletes?”

Werder Bremen, order the German Bundesliga soccer club, buy have appointed the BTD Group as their new e-marketing partner at their home ground, bronchi the Weserstadion.

The club has opted to employ a cash-free, electronic payment system within their stadium, where fans will be able to make purchases using their electronic Werder Cards.

BTD will take complete control over the e-payment system which was originally fitted by Nuremberg-based stadium development company ArenaCult, with technical updates being planned as part of wider stadium renovations.

Klaus Filbry, manager of marketing, management and finance for Werder Bremen, told Pressbox.com: “The goal of this e-business strategic reorientation for Werder Bremen is to offer the best in terms of service and quality on both the internet and within a stadium environment. We strive to offer a more customer-orientated and usable system.”

As well as helping to implement the system onto Werder Bremen’s new online shopping portal, BTD is now responsible for the conceptual development of the Weserstadion and its entire e-business strategy.

Stefan Leibhart, chief executive and founder of the BTD Group, added: “Werder, a club with a distinctively high profile, have requested BTD to reorganise and enhance their e-business systems and we are very much looking forward to taking on this challenging task.”

Martin Ward has become the latest boxer to sign a promotional deal with Matchroom Sport. 

The exciting Team GB podium star will make his debut in September and is expected to begin life in the paid ranks at lightweight before moving up through the divisions. 

“I’m really happy to be teaming up with Eddie Hearn and MatchroomSport,” said Ward. “I’m going to be working incredibly hard to impress and I know that Eddie wants me to fight seven times in my first year so I’m really excited.”

Decorated as an amateur, Ward, 20, will be trained by Tony Sims alongside fellow Matchroom Sport stars Darren Barker, Lee Purdy and John Ryder. “It’s a fantastic place to begin your career,” said Ward. “Darren has fought for a World title and is a class act, Lee is as tough and tenacious as they come and John has clearly learnt from being in the gym so I can’t wait to get going.” 

Ward joins fellow GB teammates Scotty Cardle and Kal Yafai in Eddie Hearn’s burgeoning squad of hot young British talent, and the promoter is delighted to have secured his signature. “I’ve known Martin for a few years now and every time I’ve seen him in the gym he has left me mesmerised,” said Hearn. 

“At 20 years of age, Martin already had bags of experience and is in my opinion one of the most exceptional talents this country has ever produced. Martin will be out a minimum of seven times a year and we will be putting all our resources into ensuring he reaches his full potential.”

The World Open, one of Snooker’s prestigious ranking events will be held in the Chinese city of Haikou for the next five years, World Snooker has announced.

The world ranking tournament, details of which were confirmed at a press conference in China today, will be known as the Haikou World Open.

World Snooker chairman Barry Hearn said: “We are delighted to announce the staging of the World Open in Haikou for the next five years.

“The popularity of snooker in China continues to grow at a phenomenal rate and we have capitalised on that by establishing a third full ranking event, alongside the China Open and Shanghai Masters.

“We expect to make more announcements about events in China in the coming weeks.”

The 2012 tournament runs from February 27 to March 4 and features the world’s top 16 players.

They will be joined by 16 qualifiers and eight wild cards at the final venue.

All matches up to and including the quarter-finals will be best-of-nine frames.

The World Open has previously been known as the Grand Prix and LG Cup, and adopted its current identity in 2010, when Neil Robertson took the title in Glasgow.

The British Olympic Association (BOA) is considering boycotting the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Awards after the BBC failed to include one female nominee in the prestigiuos ceremony

The ten-man shortlist, arthritis compiled by national newspaper and magazine sports editors, impotent is entirely made up of male contenders this year. The list features golfers Luke Donald, drugs Darren Clarke and Rory McIlroy, cyclist Mark Cavendish, boxer Amir Khan, tennis star Andy Murray, cricket representatives Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook, and athletes Mo Farah and Dai Greene.

The BOA is angry that female stars have been overlooked, with the likes of Rebecca Adlington left out despite winning gold and silver at the World Aquatics Championships this year.

BOA chairman Lord Moynihan and chief executive Andy Hunt are now widely reported to be considering a boycott of the awards night. However, such a move would mean turning their backs on Athletes, Farah and Greene.

A statement from the BOA read: “The Sports Personality of the Year is a prestigious honour and, typically, the BBC does a fantastic job recognising truly deserving sports men and women. This year, however, there were some glaring omissions from the list.

“Whether we attend this year is less important than what happens with the award in the future. To that end, we are encouraged to see that the BBC will review the process by which the finalists and winners are chosen in subsequent years.

“With next year being an Olympic year – and such an important year for British sport – this review is timely and will no doubt lead to an even better process going forward.”

Momentum Worldwide has announced the launch of sports marketing company Momentum Sports in Brazil.

The agency’s capabilities will include sponsorship evaluation and negotiation, endorsements, licensing, merchandising, sponsorship activation, event marketing, brand communication, promotions and results analysis and measurement.

Momentum Sports will be built on four pillars of expertise including brand knowledge, passion for sports, local market reputation in Brazil and global support from Momentum Worldwide and McCann Worldgroup offices around the world.

Momentum Worldwide CMO and Momentum Sports Co-Chairman Kevin McNulty stated: “The fans of today experience sports in a dramatically different way than they did years ago. And a new breed of fan deserves a new kind of agency. This is a new world and fans must come first and be approached with a completely tailored multi-channeled marketing program that connects them to the game, athletes and brands in both the physical and digital worlds.”

Momentum Brazil’s President and Momentum Sports Co-Chairman Marcos Lacerda added: “In 2016, two monumental events will take place: the city of Rio de Janeiro will stage the Olympics and the first generation of “digital natives” will turn 18. It is the perfect storm and Momentum Sports will tap into its research capabilities to launch understand how these passionate fans want to connect to the game. Our first research findings on fan behavior and interests will break in August. It will bring a new truth to how sports drives purchase behavior.”