Lee McConnell, Scottish 400 metres track runner is set to be part of a Glasgow 2014 Legacy Board which has just been newly established.

The new body will be set-up in order to ensure that the much-promised legacy of the Commonwealth Games in the city is delivered.

The 32-year-old from Glasgow, who has represented Scotland in the past three Commonwealth Games, winning a silver in Manchester in 2002 and bronze in Melbourne in 2006, will be joined on the 2014 Legacy Board by a number of figures with five already having been named in a report published in The Herald.

Scotland’s chief medical officer Sir Harry Burns is part of the body along with the chief executive of Tesco Bank Benny Higgins and Vicky Rosin, a senior official at Manchester City Council who played a major role in staging the highly successful Manchester 2002 Commonwealth Games.

Another member of the legacy board is 18-year-old Glasgow 2014 medal hopeful Andrew Dearie.

The middle-distance runner is from Glasgow and the inclusion of the teenager is intended to reach out to young people across the region.

Further details of the Glasgow 2014 Legacy Board will be unveiled in a new report this week that will reveal the progress being made in delivering the event.

The report comes with Glasgow 2014 set to receive their first Coordination Commission visit from the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF). The five-man Commission, chaired by Canada’s CGF vice-president Bruce Robertson, will visit Glasgow from October 3 until 6.

They are due to inspect all the major operational elements that will be in place for the 2014 competition and be given a tour of the venues that will be used for the Games.

World Snooker will break new ground next September when it stages a £130,000 ( US $204,000) invitational tournament in the Brazilian city of Sao Paolo.

The Brazilian Masters, the first world event to be staged in South America, is set to feature the top 12 ranked players and four wildcards.

Steve Davis is guaranteed an invitation, with Brazilian Snooker Association chairman Marcilio Cavalcanti describing him as the Zico or Rivelino of the baize.

Brazil’s top player Igor Figueiredo will also be invited and World Snooker chairman Barry Hearn expects the tournament to be a pre-cursor to staging a full ranking event in 2012.

“This is samba time for snooker,” said Hearn, who made clear that all the world’s leading players will be obliged to participate.

“Football is like a religion in Brazil. Our job is to make snooker their second religion.

“I believe this is the dawn of a new era. This is bigger than a 200,000-dollar tournament.

“We are working on the globalisation of our sport and this opens up a continent for snooker. Breaking into South America is a huge step towards our ambition of making snooker a truly global sport.”

The Brazilian Masters is one of 16 new tournaments World Snooker have added to the programme since last season, including a new full ranking event in Germany and 12 minor ranking events spread across six European countries.

Snooker enjoyed a brief period of popularity in Brazil during the early 1980s, when Davis took on local cult hero Rui Chapeu and won.

Hearn, who travelled with Davis to Brazil, recalled today how that 11-frame match was played in a raucous atmosphere and drew a television audience of 30million.

As part of his attempts to rejuvenate the sport, Hearn wants the Brazilian fans to turn the 1,200-seat Transamerica Expo Center into a cauldron next September.

“That passion and atmosphere is why we are there,” said Hearn.

“In recent years the crowds at snooker have been getting quieter and quieter.

“We want to encourage crowd participation because it creates the buzz of live sport. We want tough crowds.”

World number six Shaun Murphy said: “I am over the moon to be going to Brazil. I never thought it would be on the snooker map.

“The more atmosphere the better, the louder the better, the more fun the better.”

Figueiredo, who reached the final of the World Amateur Championship last year and is now playing his first season on the professional tour, said: “It’s very exciting news that there will be a tournament in Brazil. Snooker is already popular in my homeland but there is potential for it to be much bigger.

“This event will bring snooker to the Brazilian fans and I know they will respond by welcoming the top players and creating a great atmosphere.

“Hopefully I can be successful on the main tour and provide an example for more Brazilian players to follow me.”

The Brazilian Masters will be played between September 14-17 and broadcast live on Eurosport.

The tournament will be a straight knock-out on one match table. The first two rounds will be best of seven frames with the semi-finals and final the best of nine.

One Direction star Louis Tomlinson and former chairman John Ryan’s takeover of Doncaster Rovers is in doubt after The Tomlinson Ryan Trust funding scheme collapsed. 

The takeover was scheduled to be formally completed on Friday, following the exchange of contracts and a press conference held in London last month.

The Trust set up a funding scheme with the aim of raising £2million but the deadline for pledges passed on Thursday with the total more than £1million short of the target, which means Ryan will now not pass the Football League’s ‘fit and proper person’s test.’

“The Tomlinson Ryan Trust Crowdfunder project has failed to reach the target as set out under the terms of the funding arrangements,” said the Trust via a statement.

“The result of which will be that all pledges will be cancelled and funds returned to the relevant parties.

“As a result of the funding not being available from Crowdfunder for the DRFC project, John Ryan is unable to meet the requirements of the Football League Fit and Proper test.

“The consequence of this is that the deal to take over the club is now in serious doubt.”

The Trust had previously stated the takeover of the club would go ahead irrespective of the success or failure of its crowdfunding project.

Premier League club Southampton FC have promoted Gareth Rogers to Interim Chief Executive Officer following the departure of Chairman Nicola Cortese. 

Cortese left the club last week after reportedly disagreeing with the running of the club with owner Katharina Liebherr.

His replacement is currently the Club’s Chief Financial Officer. Gareth has been the Club’s CFO since March 2011. Before that, he was a senior manager at the accounting firm Deloitte. He has a BSc in Economics and Accounting from the University of Southampton.

Southampton FC Chairman Katharina Liebherr said: “I am delighted that Gareth has agreed to step into this role. After the events of the past week, my priority has been to bring stability to the management of the Club and I am pleased that we have been able to make this appointment from within. We had a very positive meeting with all the staff of the Club on Monday and I am sure Gareth’s appointment will be warmly received.”

Gareth Rogers said: “I am very pleased to be able help the club by stepping up to the CEO’s job on an interim basis. We have a fantastic staff and everyone is working together to make sure the club ends the season as strongly as possible.”

The National Football League’s (NFL) New York Jets and Skyview Networks announced they have entered into a new multi-year broadcast service agreement.

Skyview, prostate an integrated professional sports distribution company specializing in play-by-play broadcast systems, will provide its F.A.S.T. Inventory Management System and Live Read Logging Service to the New York Jets. The systems will manage all aspects of radio avails, including on air mentions, and provide advertisers proof of performance to streamline the invoicing process.

“In light of the increased demand on our media inventory, it became apparent that the Skyview system was necessary to help manage our continued growth,” said Jets senior vice president, Marc Riccio. “Skyview’s expertise so far has proven to be just what we needed to expand our media business.”

The F.A.S.T. System is uniquely tailored to the non-linear format of the play-by-play broadcast and accommodates all components of scheduling, reporting and invoicing of advertising clients. Skyview Networks will also provide its Live Read Logging Service to capture and catalogue the New York Jets’ on-air advertiser mentions. With this system, the franchise has full access to a personalized web database of time stamped air checks that is fully searchable by client name, feature name or date range. These air checks can be played, downloaded and exported, allowing the franchise to bill live reads through the affidavit and invoicing process.

“We are thrilled to expand our presence in the New York market with this established and iconic brand,” said Ken Thiele, President of Skyview Networks. “With our systems, the Jets will experience a flexible and time saving solution to play-by-play inventory management. We strive to build a solid relationship with our partners and we look forward to collaborating on future play-by-play broadcast solutions for the franchise.”

Stanford Quarterback and potential No.1 pick of the NFL Draft, Andrew Luck, is close to signing with Wasserman Media Group on Tuesday according to Sports Business Journal.

Instead of signing with a big-name agency like CAA or Athletes First or a top name like Eugene Parker or Drew Rosenhaus, Luck becomes the first football player with WMG. Darren Rovell of CNBC points out, Luck will likely be represented by his uncle, William Wilson.

Wasserman Media Group is known largely for the basketball players under it’s wing. They include LaMarcus Aldridge, Pau Gasol, Derrick Rose and Russell Westbrook. They also rep the biggest names in American soccer (Landon Donovan, Tim Howard and Hope Solo) and the rising stars of golf (Jason Day, Rickie Fowler, Zach Johnson).

As Rovell also notes, WMG has had a No. 1 pick in the MLB, NBA, MLS and WNBA drafts. With the Colts expected to draft Luck, they can add a No. 1 NFL pick to the list.

Newport International Sports Village was named as the chosen site of the proposed new National Football Centre in Wales with Newport Council yet to approve the plans for the multi-million pound venue.

The new centre is planned to include a new office building, an upgrade of the existing artificial turf at the site, and the erection of fencing, floodlighting, stands and renovating car parking.

The Football Association of Wales (FAW), in conjunction with the Welsh Football Trust, have submitted the proposal for a “state of the art, purpose built facility providing top class training, playing, sports science and education facilities”.

The new pitch would be available to the public and local football club, with a new premium grass pitch for use by the national football team.

Administrative staff involved in coaching and development would also be located at the site, which will cost up to £5 million ($7.8 million), according to FAW chief executive Jonathan Ford.

The new venue is “essential”, according to Wales boss Gary Speed, who said earlier this year that it was crucial for the creation of a football identity.

Speed said: “We are a small nation and we need to develop our way of playing to ensure our success in the future. When players come here at an early age, hopefully they get a taste of that identity and hopefully they can develop the Welsh way of playing.”

The site already is home to a velodrome and an indoor cricket and tennis centre, and Newport’s planning committee will meet to discuss the proposal later this year.

Former Chelsea Chief Executive Officer Peter Kenyon is surrounded with controversy as soccer’s ruling body, FIFA, are investigating an investment fund set up by the businessman identifying whether it breaks the sport’s rules. 

The fund, which has invested in the future transfer value of about 15 players, is controlled by Kenyon’s talent-agency employer Creative Artists Agency Inc (CAA) and another athlete management company, Gestifute SA. Some of the players are managed by Gestifute, which handles Cristiano Ronaldo’s business.

A Barcelona University professor, Jose Maria Gay, who writes an annual report on soccer finance believes the arrangement may be a conflict of interest because Gestifute could seek transfers for its clients that give the fund a greater return. Kenyon said the fund’s managers are “very conscious” not to influence trades, which would be a breach of FIFA rules.

Kenyon said in an interview: “We’ve been aware of conflict and we’ve managed that conflict. I’m confident that we’re operating within the guidelines of the football governing bodies and the financial bodies.”

FIFA’s rules say clubs face disciplinary action, which could include a financial penalty or blocking their access to the new signings, if they give third parties the ability to influence transfers.

Los Angeles-based CAA, which primarily represented actors like George Clooney, branched into sports in 2006 and formed a alliance with Porto, Portugal-based Gestifute in 2008.