The future of European professional basketball will take center stage when Euroleague Basketball hosts the first European Basketball Clubs Convention on Wednesday in Barcelona, medicine Spain.

The convention, capsule an open event to which all European clubs and leagues have been invited, ambulance will be attended by more than 90 of their representatives from across the continent. The gathering offers a new and exciting opportunity for the principal stakeholders in the sport to come together, define objectives and continue to shape its future in Europe.

With the help of three speakers and two special guests, the convention will seek to define what clubs want from professional basketball in the short, middle and long terms, with particular emphasis on how to attract new fans to join the many millions already hooked on the sport.

The convention attendees will hear from experts inside and outside of basketball, namely Jordi Bertomeu, President and CEO of Euroleague Basketball; Shimon Mizrahi, President of current Turkish Airlines Euroleague champion Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv; Jan Pommer, Managing Director of the Beko Basketball Bundesliga of Germany; Ioris Francini, President of IMG Media & Events, and Andrea Agnelli, President of Juventus FC.

Among the topics that the speakers will be addressing are the role of clubs within professional basketball, what the club of the future might look like and possible frameworks for European professional basketball going forward.

“We conceived the idea of the European Basketball Clubs Convention so that the true drivers of our sport, the clubs, can define what they want for the future of European basketball,” Mr. Bertomeu said. “Now is the perfect time to have that conversation because we are convinced that there are many challenges to meet and opportunities to prepare for in the very near future.”

The European Basketball Clubs Convention is a new addition to the Euroleague Basketball Institute Annual Workshops, which take place each summer and bring together experts from a full spectrum of professions – players, coaches, referees, marketing, media and ticketing directors, general managers and more – to analyze the trends and prescribe steps toward growth in the sport.

The European Basketball Clubs Convention is one of the final events in the run-up to the 2014-15 Turkish Airlines Euroleague Draws that will mark the start of a new season on Thursday in Barcelona.

The convention will also open the floor to media and fans through social media, mainly Twitter and Facebook, where they may submit questions to the speakers about the future of professional European basketball by using the hashtag #BasketballFuture.

The Atlanta Falcons have announced today President & CEO Rich McKay has been retained in a new long-term contract.

Also Falcons General Manager Thomas Dimitroff and Head Coach Mike Smith have signed extensions of their contracts.  

McKay, sale signed to a four-year extension through May 2019, is entering his eleventh season with the Falcons.  He will continue to serve as the president and chief executive officer of the club, with responsibility for all business operations of the Falcons, as well as the development and operation of the new stadium. 

As part of the new stadium operations, McKay will have responsibility for the creation and management of a new AMB Sports & Entertainment Group, serving as its president.  The new entity will include the Falcons and the new stadium, which the Falcons will operate.  McKay chairs the NFL Competition Committee, on which he has served for 21 years.

Dimitroff and Smith each signed one-year extensions to their contracts. Both men are entering their seventh season with the Falcons, with a six-year cumulative regular season win-loss record of 60-36 – tied for the sixth highest winning percentage in the league over the same period of time.

“We are fortunate to have talented key leaders at the Falcons who are dedicated to a common goal of being a league leader on and off the field,” Falcons Owner & Chairman Arthur Blank said.  “I have great respect for the skills and commitment of Rich, Thomas and Smitty, and I look forward to continuing to support and work with them in the years to come.”

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) took the first step towards resolving issues with the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) by inviting the Union government and two IOA officials to Lausanne for talks.

The sports ministry welcomed the move. “We were sure things would start moving in January. We are glad that the IOC is playing a proactive role in sorting out the problem. We look forward to a dialogue with them,” secretary of sports, P.K. Deb, said.

This is the first time since the IOA was suspended on December 4 last year that the IOC has officially involved the government.

IOC representatives sent a letter to acting leading officials of the suspended IOA that said: “The suspended IOA must be in a position to hold free, fair, transparent and credible elections without any external interference and exclusively on the basis of the Olympic Charter and the IOA’s constitution.”

The IOC wants “relevant government authorities to definitively amend or repeal regulations or laws which interfere with the autonomous functioning and internal operations (including the election rules) of the suspended IOA.”

The IOC also stated that it wanted the IOA to review its constitution and internal regulations and “make necessary amendments, in close collaboration with the IOC and subject to IOC’s approval…to include proper and concrete mechanisms to ensure good governance at all levels and implement all basic ethical principles.”{jcomments on}

Germany’s top-flight Bundesliga have revealed they will not introduce goal-line technology

This is the result of a German Football Federation (DFB) board meeting, in which head referee Herbert Fandel “expressed his concern about the technology.” FIFA allows national federations to decide if they want to use a goal judge or goal-line technology, which all have a margin of error between two and three centimeters.

The Bundesliga wrote on their website: “In view of the contrasting positions of FIFA and UEFA, as well as the unanswered questions regarding measurement precision, the executive board of the League Association has decided not to introduce goal-line technology in the Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 for the time being.

“A final decision will not be made until the results of FIFA’s planned tests at the FIFA Club World Cup in December in Japan and at the Confederations Cup in the summer in Brazil have been evaluated. The introduction of goal-line technology for the start of the 2013/14 season is, therefore, not an issue at present.

“After consultation and analysis of a club survey, the management board concluded that opinions were split on the matter.”

F1 driver Heikki Kovalainen has inked an exclusive deal with IMG Worldwide, the global sports, fashion and media company, to manage and represent his commercial interests.

Kovalainen, 30, from Finland, is entering his third season racing for Caterham F1 Team, formerly Team Lotus, having previously raced for McLaren and Renault.

IMG will provide full client management services, including contractual negotiation, partnerships, legal services, PR and marketing expertise. He will be looked after and accompanied at F1 races by Martin Anayi, who also manages the interests of former three time F1 champion Sir Jackie Stewart.

The move strengthens IMG’s top level driver management stable where Kovalainen also joins Danica Patrick, the only woman to win in the IndyCar Series, and who now competes in the NASCAR Nationwide Series in the US.

Martin Anayi, a senior executive in IMG Motorsport, said: “We are delighted to have been appointed to represent Heikki. He is a very talented and marketable driver who has competed at the top level since 2007. We are looking forward to assisting and supporting him to achieve further success both on and off the track.”

Kovalainen said: “I’m excited about working with IMG, they have impressed me with their commitment and understanding of the industry and will look after all of my commercial partnerships moving forward. With the team we have assembled, it will allow me to concentrate on my driving and put even more time into working with the engineers and dedicate myself completely to leading the team to win its first point in F1.”

Kovalainen was supported by the Renault Driver Development programme early in his racing career, during which he won the World Series by Nissan Championship and finished runner-up in the GP2 series. Renault signed him on as a full-time F1 test driver for 2006 and then promoted him to race for them the following year.

He gained his first podium by finishing second in the Japanese Grand Prix in 2007. He then moved to McLaren for two seasons during which he claimed his first victory at the Hungaroring. In 2010 he moved to Lotus Racing, the team who competed under the Team Lotus name in 2011 and are now Caterham F1 Team for 2012 and beyond, where he has worked his way to become a respected leader for the team and regarded as one of the best drivers of the less established teams on the grid.

Robert Armstrong, Senior Vice President Global Head of Motorsports for IMG, said: “We are proud of our long history in talent management and our legacy in elite motorsport. We believe that signing Heikki shows our commitment to strengthening our IMG Motorsport management business. We welcome Heikki to the IMG family and look forward to a long and successful partnership.”

by Ismail Uddin

Bruce Buck Chelsea FC Chairman, drugs has said there will not be much financial gain for Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich by moving the club to a new stadium from Stamford Bridge

Chelsea has kicked off the process of attempting to buy back the freehold to Stamford Bridge, allergy which was sold to a supporters’ group in the mid-1990s to stave off the threat of property developers acquiring the land. However, cialis Buck insisted that Abramovich did not have personal financial motivations for considering a move to a larger stadium.

Buck told Chelsea TV: “To build a new stadium of 55,000 to 60,000 seats would cost in the region of £450 million which with the land, would total maybe £500 million to £550 million. The profit on the redevelopment of Stamford Bridge would be maybe a third of that amount, and money from other sources such as Mr Abramovich and banks would be needed to move to another location.”

He added: “The profits would be an important component of the funds should we would need them so it would not be possible to do it without taking that redevelopment money. There is no possibility for Mr Abramovich to make any money.

“A figure of £500 million for a new stadium is a lot of money no matter who you are, and the decision has been made that we’re not going to move to another stadium unless we can take the proceeds of a redevelopment of Stamford Bridge towards it.”

UEFA, Europe’s top soccer authority, may ban Turkish club Fenerbahce from its competitions for three years if Turkish authorities find the league champions guilty in a match- fixing probe.

Penalties for such crimes range from one to five years, and because the Istanbul-based club didn’t voluntarily withdraw from the Champions League, Europe’s top soccer competition, it missed an opportunity to disqualify for one year, Aksam said, citing UEFA regulations. The football association will reach a decision by May and a three-year ban might cost Fenerbahce more than 100 million euros ($133.5 million) of revenue, Aksam reported.

The Turkish Football Federation withdrew Fenerbahce and sent runner-up Trabzonspor to the competition. Trabzonspor and cup winner Besiktas, which is competing in the UEFA Cup, may be banned from European competitions for long as five years if found guilty of rigging matches, Aksamreported.

The marketing headquarters for the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) have been relocated to Singapore from Beijing. The Singapore Table Tennis Association put forward the idea which was backed by the entire ITTF Executive Committee.

The office is expected to be fully functional by the first quarter of 2011 and will be led by ITTF marketing director Steve Dainton. The headquarters will be temporarily based in Tanglin before moving to the Singapore Sports Hub following its completion in 2014.

“Our aim is to deliver a broader identity to the ITTF presence within the Asia-Pacific region. The geographic position, erectile buoyant economy and government drive to attract sport makes Singapore an ideal location for the ITTF” stated ITTF president Adham Sharara.

“Our five years in Beijing were hugely progressive and helped us build further on the special relationship between China and the ITTF. However, our ambition is to have a marketing centre for the entire Asia-Pacific region.”