iSportconnect are pleased to announce today that it has launched a new sailing sub community. The sub community will include sailing news and features, symptoms discussions from industry experts, events, jobs, bidding and tenders as well as the latest videos and images from major events such as the Volvo Ocean Race and the Americas Cup.

The launch of the sub community coincides with the publication of a Featured Profile of Americas Cup Chairman Richard Worth who spoke to iSportconnect about his career to date and his task of promoting the Americas Cup to new audiences.

iSportconnect will also publish a bi-monthly online magazine that will include news, detailed industry analysis, trends, expert columns and case studies related to the business of yacht racing and professional sailing.

In future, iSportconnect will hold networking events specifically for people involved in the business of professional sailing and yacht racing to discuss major talking points and industry trends and network with one another.

iSportconnect CEO and Founder, Sree Varma said: “With major sailing competitions like the Americas Cup and Volvo Ocean being run so successfully,  creating a sub community for people who work within sailing business feels like a wise decision. I’m confident that this will be a great platform for people within the industry to connect and share ideas.”

The Olympic Park Legacy Company has appointment of Kathryn Firth as its new chief of design – a role that will see her head the company’s design team and will shape the future of Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

Firth, a Harvard graduate, has held senior positions at PLP Architecture, Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates and the LSE Cities Programme during her 25 years in the industry.

Her work at the OPLC will see her tasked with the Legacy Communities Scheme – a masterplan to develop the Park over the next 20 years, as well as improving the fringe areas around the Park through a series of community-focused design projects.

Firth said: “Being able to influence one of the most important regeneration projects of the century is a truly extraordinary opportunity for any urban designer’.

‘The standards of design that we set out now will set the tone for all future development on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. It is vital that this area is seen as a blueprint for 21st century living and loved by all those who live, work and visit’.

Firth will also be overseeing a major competition to create London’s newest public space sitting between the Olympic Stadium, the ArcelorMittal Orbit and the Aquatics Centre

see helvetica, cheap sans-serif;”>Bin Hammam had said he didn’t expect FIFA to accept his appeal, accusing the organization of being biased against him, and said he would take the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport after losing an appeal against the punishment.

His lawyer Eugene Gulland of Covington & Burling LLP confirmed the plan today.

A statement from Eugene Gulland said: “As expected, the FIFA appeals panel, which met in Zurich today, upheld the 23 July ruling by the FIFA ethics committee, and we will therefore be taking our appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).”

The Qatari, who was head of the Asian soccer confederation, was banned in July after being found guilty of buying votes for the FIFA leadership contest against Blatter. Bin Hammam said the ban was politically motivated and that he had the resources to fight for years to clear his name.

FIFA said in an e-mailed statement: “The appeal made by Mohammed Bin Hammam has been rejected and the decision of the FIFA Ethics Committee confirmed. The sanction of being banned from taking part in any kind of football-related activity (administrative, sports or any other) at national and international level for life has therefore been maintained.”

The Zurich-based body’s three-member appeal panel was led by Ecuadorian Francisco Acosta and included officials from Argentina and Senegal.

FIFA’s decision to expel Bin Hammam came after an investigation led by former Federal Bureau of Investigation director Louis Freeh into claims he offered Caribbean soccer officials envelopes containing $40,000 while campaigning in the region. FIFA vice president Jack Warner, who arranged Bin Hammam’s visit to the Caribbean, was also suspended and quit the sport before the end of Freeh’s inquiry. He denied any wrongdoing.

The Women’s Squash Association has elected Australia’s world No11 Kasey Brown as their new President of their Borad of Directors.  

“As the newly-appointed President of WSA, I would just like to say what an honour it is to represent the players and I am committed to do everything I can to promote the tour and women’s squash,” said the US-based 28-year-old from New South Wales.

The board will also have a number of new members including Ashley Bernhard (USA), Kasey Brown (President, Australia),Nathan Dugan (USA), Jenny Duncalf (England), Marjolein Houtsma (Netherlands), Latasha Khan (Chairman, USA) and Laura Massaro (England).

“These directors offer a variety of skills and qualifications and I look forward to working with them to make decisions on behalf of the players and for the good of the Association,” continued Brown.

“I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the outgoing Board for all the time and effort they have put in, which has set a solid foundation to grow the tour,” added the winner of three medals in the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi.

“We will continue the WSA vision to Inspire; Empower; and Entertain: Inspire future female generations to embrace squash as a professional sport; Empower girls and women on and off the court; and Entertain the world.”

According to new research 51% of the British Public believe ‘London 2012 has made Britain a better place’.

The study, adiposity by sponsorship experts Havas Sports & Entertainment (HS&E), generic conducted in September of this year, has also revealed that 53% agree that London 2012 ‘was the greatest Games ever’, twice as many people as when the same question was asked in July 2012.

Sponsors benefitted significantly from this boost in attitudes, as public awareness between April and September, on average, doubled across 27 sponsors measured in the study. The two most recognized sponsors were McDonalds (55%) and the Coca-Cola Company (52%), who were at the top all the way through the study from March 2011.

The study was commissioned by HS&E to identify the effects of Olympic Games’ sponsorship on sponsor brands, and to track interest in and attitudes towards the Games over a period of two and a half years, starting in March 2011. Consistently, the research is demonstrating that for most sponsors, awareness of their association with the Games has had a positive impact on their brand’s image and consumers’ attitudes towards purchasing their products. The next waves of post-Games research are scheduled for February and August 2013.

Lucien Boyer, President & Global CEO, HS&E commented: “The dramatic increase in positive public sentiment between July and September 2012, shown by our study, demonstrates that London 2012 went way beyond people’s expectations. Sponsors have benefitted, from this, across the board but the brands who up-weighted their activations during the Games, such as Coca-Cola, P&G and McDonalds, and engaged with their target audiences received the biggest boost in awareness.” 

“From our 20 years of working in Olympic sponsorship and experience with 10 Olympic sponsors during London 2012, we’ve seen that to stand above the rest, brands have to tell a powerful, relevant story and create long-term relationships through content and experiences that are meaningful and add value to the fan experience.”

Alastair Macdonald, Sponsorship Insights Director, HS&E, added: “Once this study is complete we will have the most comprehensive set of evidence ever produced as to how the sponsorship of the Olympic Games affects consumers’ perceptions and attitudes as well as the impact on the products they choose to purchase.”

“It will be interesting to see how public attitudes towards the Olympics and sponsors evolve in future waves as we get further away from the Games.  We certainly believe there will be lessons for future major events sponsors and organizers to learn from tracking these attitudes over a number of years pre and post Olympics.”

Transfluent today announced a partnership with top Spanish football clubs, bringing all the clubs’ social media and web presence to fans worldwide.

Spanish football is popular everywhere in the world, but until today the clubs have communicated on Facebook and the web in Spanish only. This has excluded a lot of fans who have not been able to follow what their idols are doing and saying. 

The three clubs who have initially adopted this are Sevilla FC, Athletic Bilbao and Osasuna. 

Ethor Gorrono, Marketing Manager of Athletic Bilbao, commented, “Transfluent will give us the opportunity to explore new potential sponsors in more countries.”

With the help of Transfluent’s social media localization service, the clubs will now be posting in Spanish, but all outgoing messages will be visible to fans in their native languages. Fans can write comments and ask questions, and the club can read and reply, again using Spanish—though the fans will see any replies in their own language.

“Our fans are important to us. We know we have loyal fans all over Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. Talking to them wherever they are in the world is an incredible opportunity,” says Fran Romera, Marketing Manager of Sevilla FC.

“Being able to communicate with fans globally is sure to increase the brand value of the clubs and raise their following on social media,” commented Jani Penttinen, CEO and founder of Transfluent.

Rugby’s British & Irish Lions have appointed Logan Sports Marketing as their new sponsorship management and event support team.

The agency will work closely with the British & Irish Lions to ensure the forthcoming Tour to Australia in 2013 is a commercial success.

John Feehan, CEO of The British & Irish Lions, said: “We are delighted to appoint Logan Sports Marketing, One of our key considerations was to recruit a team that had the experience to be able to understand our sponsors’ requirements and a team that are focussed and committed on delivering the best possible service for our partners.”

Paul Sefton, CEO of Logan Sports Marketing, added: ‘As an agency that specialises in rugby this is obviously a huge opportunity and an absolute honour. The business is fully committed to working with The Lions and the whole team is genuinely excited to be part of the 2013 Australia Tour journey.’

Logan Sports Marketing is an independent sports marketing agency specialising in the delivery of sponsorship and event management. 

Other clients include EMC, Tag Heuer, Microsoft, Gaucho International Polo and 188BET.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) have announced their domestic venues to host the Ashes until 2016 with Headingley and Rose Bowl missing out.

Nottinghamshire’s Trent Bridge will host two Ashes Tests with Trent Bridge, Lord’s and The Oval staging games in 2013 and 2015, but Headingley and the Rose Bowl miss out.

The other 2013 Tests will take place at Old Trafford – which last staged one in 2005 – and Durham’s Riverside, a new addition to the Ashes roster.

Cardiff and Edgbaston will host the remaining two Tests in 2015.

The ECB delivered the independent major match group’s decision, not just on which venues will stage the next two Ashes series, but also many other international fixtures between 2013 and 2016.

Headingley and the Rose Bowl will host one-day internationals against Australia and Tests against other tourists while Bristol will host New Zealand, India and Sri Lanka in ODIs.

For Nottinghamshire in particular, the revenue they can generate from the Ashes Tests at Trent Bridge will come as a vindication of their decision to spend millions of pounds upgrading facilities.

“It is absolutely enormous,” said Nottinghamshire chief executive Derek Brewer of the decision to award his county Ashes Tests in consecutive series.

“One of our objectives was to get Trent Bridge at the forefront of international cricket. We have certainly achieved that. It’s been a massive team effort, a very long and exacting process.”

Lancashire chief executive Jim Cumbes said the announcement heightened the feelgood factor at Old Trafford.

“This has been our goal since 2006,” he said.

“We are delighted to see the Ashes return to Old Trafford. It has certainly been a fantastic couple of weeks for the club – winning the county championship after such a long wait and the final seal of approval to proceed with our redevelopment.

“This is just the icing on the cake.”

Colin Povey, chief executive at Warwickshire, said “While we are disappointed not to have been awarded an Ashes Test Match in 2013, we should remember the Aussies will play one-day internationals at Edgbaston in 2012 and 2013,” he said.

“In addition, we can now look forward to an Ashes Test in 2015.”

The major match group is chaired by Lord Bill Morris, who explained the decision-making process.

“Lord’s is the home of cricket and demonstrated to the major match group its unique iconic status and the exceptional benefits which staging major matches at Lord’s can bring to the game,” he said.

“The MMG also noted the MCC’s commitment to further develop the facilities at Lord’s as well as the significant support which MCC provides to university and community cricket in England and Wales and the game around the world.

“As a result of these exceptional characteristics, Lord’s has been awarded the ‘platinum package’.”

ECB chairman Giles Clarke added: “The quality of the submissions made by the venues was outstanding and reflects the importance to regions as well as venues in staging major matches.

“The awards for the next five-year period will enable counties to review and where necessary revise their business plans with the certainty of their match programme over a substantial period of time.