The illegal betting scandal surrounding the world of sumo wrestling has now led to the firing of wrestler Kotomitsuki and his stable master, Otake, for their involvement in illegal baseball gambling.

The Japanese Sumo Association took the decision yesterday afternoon at an emergency meeting after it was found Kotomitsuki had gambled on professional baseball, with money allegedly a source of funding for mobsters.

Kotomitsuki is one of the most famous wrestlers in sumo, and he was promoted to the champion rank of ‘ozeki’ in 2007.

The sport has already suffered from the scandal, with companies Fuji Xerox and Nagatanien withdrawing their sponsorship of a tournament due to be held this month.

Even the broadcaster NHK is considering cancelling its coverage of the sixth-annual sumo tournament that it has been showing since 1953 unless the association can sufficiently deal with the scandal.

Around 65 members of the sport have admitted to illegal gambling on baseball, mahjong and card games.

Bath Rugby Club has appointed Sir Ian McGeechan as their new Performance Director on a two-year contract.

McGeechan is hugely experienced having been head coach on four British and Irish Lions Tours, prostate and was in charge of Scotland, link Northampton, ed and, most recently, Wasps.

Bath Chairman Bruce Craig said: “He will enhance a well established and successful coaching team and work with head coach Steve Meehan. Ian will become an integral part of our management set-up.

“His contribution to rugby union is unrivalled and he has been at the forefront of rugby development for many years now.”

McGeechan added: “Bath have a very clear vision for the future development of the club and have made a clear statement of intent with the new headquarters at Farleigh House.

“I am delighted to become part of a club that is developing the infrastructure on and off the pitch to achieve long-term success and become one of the strongest clubs in Europe.”

Lord Howard has resigned from his role as chairman of the Arena Racing Company.

The Arena Racing Company owns and operates 15 racecourses in Great Britain, adiposity accounting for 39% of British racing fixtures

Tony Kelly, discount managing director of ARC, store said: “We are sad to lose Lord Howard as our chairman but I understand that his decision is not related to the business or policies of ARC.

“The board of ARC wish Lord Howard well in his future endeavours and thank him for his invaluable input into the company over the past six years.”

Tension is reportedly between the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and International Olympic Committee (IOC) is reportedly growing with the IOA objecting to the ‘dictate’ from the IOC that it should hold its election due next month under the supervision of the world body.

The IOC had written two letters- on August 16 and September 11- that said the election process of the IOA would have to be held in strict compliance with the Olympic Charter and under the supervision of the IOC and Olympic Council of Asia.

IOA Acting President, Vijay Kumar Malhotra, reportedly wrote to IOC Chairman, Jacques Rogge, stating that the international body’s decision to supervise its election was not acceptable. Malhotra asked whether elections of other NOCs were also monitored.{jcomments on}

Array Networks Inc., pilule a global leader in application, medic desktop and cloud service delivery, ailment today announced that the New Orleans Hornets have deployed Array’s DesktopDirect remote desktop appliance solution in their headquarters office.

The NBA team uses the Array solution to enable agents, scouts, sales personnel and other field staff to lighten their load by moving to tablets while at the same time having access to information and applications needed for their jobs.

The Hornets chose DesktopDirect to make employees productive on iPads from any location. Because employees work long hours and often on nights and weekends due to games and other events, they need a solution that is highly portable and can be used anywhere at any time.

In addition to enhancing employee productivity, the Hornets chose Array’s remote desktop appliance to avoid the security risks of traditional VPNs and the cost of purchasing and managing laptops and security hardware and software. Using DesktopDirect, access to office resources such as physical desktops, virtual desktops and terminal services can be enabled from any smart phone or tablet without the risk of data leaving the corporate network or residing on mobile devices.

“Our employees have definitely been wowed by the DesktopDirect solution and love it for the simple reasons that it allows them to get out of the office, and because they can finally use their iPads for business,” said Tod Caflisch, vice president of IT for the New Orleans Hornets. “It’s a really great solution that gives the team the best of both worlds – security and productivity. It also gives me the flexibility of mobilizing terminal server and virtualized applications as the economics of these solutions improve in the coming years.”

“We are proud to enable secure remote access and mobility for an exciting franchise such as the New Orleans Hornets,” said Lior Rapaport, vice president of Mobility for Array Networks. “With so many employees on the road, in so many different capacities, the Hornets are a fantastic example of the capability and the value of our DesktopDirect solution. I look forward to maintaining our partnership, solving future mobility challenges and leveraging DesktopDirect to create event greater value for the Hornets organization.”

British building firm AECOM has won the international competition to design the masterplan for the Rio 2016 Olympic Park, picking up the $62,000 prize money. 

The London-based building design and management company was named as the winner at a special ceremony in Rio on the site of where the Olympic Park will be located, infront of a high profile delegation, which included Rio 2016 President Carlos Nuzman, Mayor of Rio Eduardo Paes and Brazil’s Sports Minister Orlando Silva.

There were 60 entries in the competition from firms in 18 countries, with a final decision made by a panel that consisted of seven representatives from Rio City Hall, the International Union of Architects, Brazil’s Architects Institute, the Rio 2016 Organising Committee and the Federal Government.

AECOM will be working on their second successive Olympic Park masterplan after the firm designed the masterplan for the London 2012 Olympic Park.

Bill Hanway, AECOM’s managing director for the UK, said:”We are delighted and honoured to win this appointment and have the opportunity to work on Rio 2016.This is a fantastic city in a fantastic country and we know the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2016 will be a tremendous success.”

The masterplan outlines how the Olympic Park area will be used, as well as where the public spaces, squares and parks will be located.

It also outlines the location of the permanent and temporary venues and the future real estate developments to be built at the site.

Detailed planning will now be carried out over the next months by AECOM in conjunction with the parties involved in the park construction.

“This is yet another step taken towards building the Rio 2016 Games legacy,” said Nuzman.

“The Olympic Park legacy for Brazilian sports will be a training centre modelled after the successful experiences of the world’s greatest sporting powers.”

Design projects for each one of the temporary and permanent sporting venues to be built in the Park will be chosen through competitions while there will be a separate competition to design the new golf course to be built in the city for the Olympic Games when the sport make its debut at the event.

John Armitt, Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) Chairman, has already lined up a job as chairman of City & Guilds after London 2012.

City & Guilds is predominantly a UK vocational education organisation offering over 500 qualifications across range of industry sectors and Armitt will take over from Michael Howell as chairman of the Council and of the Trustee Board when he is formally elected in October 2012.

“I am delighted to be nominated as chairman of City & Guilds,” said the 65-year-old Armitt, who is also the chairman of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, a role he has held since April 2007.

“I believe in the importance of vocational education in supporting UK plc – a workforce that is fit for purpose is central to the achievement of sustainable economic growth.

“At this critical juncture for the UK economy, City & Guilds plays a vital role in supporting employers’ continued investment in their staff.”

Armitt has been chairman of the ODA since 2007 and therefore responsible for delivering the infrastructure for the London 2012 Games including all the stadia and other facilities.

Armitt has been widely praised for his role in leading the $13 billion construction and delivery programme will all venues having been delivered on time and on budget.

Howell said: “On behalf of the Trustees and Council, I am delighted that John has agreed to accept this nomination.

“John is the perfect candidate to support City & Guilds on its exciting path of growth and diversification while raising the profile of vocational education both nationally and internationally.”

Chris Jones, director general of City & Guilds, added: “On behalf of the Management Board we are extremely pleased that John has agreed to accept this nomination.

“His professional track-record is truly impressive and we are looking forward to working with him.”

Before becoming ODA chairman, Armitt was chief executive of Network Rail from 2001 until 2007 and was chief executive of Costain from 1997 until 2001.

He is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and during the 1990s oversaw the planning and financing of the Channel Tunnel high speed rail lLink.

Japan’s sumo wrestlers have lost their third tournament sponsor over the illegal betting scandal that has rocked the sport.

Foodmaker Natori will not sponsor the Nagoya tournament, scheduled to begin on 11 July. This follows the decisions of Nagatanien Co and Asahi Mutual Life Insurance Co, who have also pulled out of the sport.

Japan’s sumo association has this week suspended Chairman Musashigawa and13 wrestlers after some had admitted to illegal gambling on baseball matches.

Yasuo Sazuki, a spokesman for Natori said: “It wasn’t a matter of whether the punishment of the wrestlers was enough or not, it was a matter of the public’s view towards the whole incident.”