A report compiled for the Ethics Committee of world football’s governing body FIFA has said that Mohamed bin Hammam refused to co-operate fully with their investigation into match-fixing.

Fulham, London soccer club of the English Premier League, have announced a partnership with branding agency Heavenly, commencing from the 2011/12 season.

Heavenly will provide brand strategy ideas and creative services to Fulham, including for their season ticket campaign, which launches next month, the club’s membership scheme and their new kit launch under the terms of the agreement.

Heavenly has launched a 48-page brand campaign, which focuses on the whole match day experience at Fulham, rather than specifically on the game itself. Three core images are at the centre of this: ‘The Commute’, featuring fans cross Putney Bridge to get to Craven Cottage – the team’s stadium, ‘The Last Yards’, showing the walk through nearby Bishops Park, and ‘Half-Time Show’, displaying a panoramic view of the stadium from across the Thames at half-time.

Fulham’s communication’s director, Sarah Brookes stated: ‘Having decided to review our entire creative strategy, we saw a number of agencies each given the same initial brief to work from.  We were immediately impressed with the level of understanding that Heavenly had regarding the Fulham brand and its core, unique properties.  The energy and enthusiasm shown mirrored our own, and we are all very excited about what can be achieved with the relationship going forward.’    

Heavenly’s founder and chief executive, Richard Sunderland, added: “We are delighted to have been appointed by Fulham. We see them as the antidote to the modern game and to the faceless corporates that currently run many of their competitors. As a consequence we feel that there are many similarities between the club and Heavenly and as a London agency are thrilled to be working with a club that has such history and tradition.”

Shaila-Ann Rao is set to step down from her role as chief executive of the Sportfive International agency, capsule Lagardère Unlimited, asthma the sports marketing division of media conglomerate Lagardère, cheap cheap has announced.

Rao was supposed to head up a joint venture between Sportfive International and IEC in Sports which was announced in October for activity across Europe and Africa, gut Sportfive have revealed the situation had changed.

In a statement today, Sportfive said: “Further to this, the development continues and it has been decided that the Geneva office of Lagardère Unlimited’s media and production unit will undergo adjustment. As such, Shaila-Ann Rao, chief executive of Sportfive International, has decided to step down from her role.”

The International Paralympic Committee have revealed Malawi’s Paralympic team have not travelled to London for the 2012 Games due to a lack of funding.

The visually-impaired sprinters Chisomo Jeremani and Janet Shedani were set to compete in athletics at the Olympic Stadium in Malawi’s first Paralympics, but have not now travelled to the UK.

The non-participation of Malawi means 165 nations will be represented over the 11 days of competition, which begin on Thursday. The African country had been due to be one of 15 nations making their Paralympic debuts in London.

The London organisers Locog had provided some money to help fund the trip, but according to officials from Malawi it was not enough to send the full delegation, including guides for the runners.

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has launched a London 2012 Olympics app for Android and iOS smartphones.

The app will provide up to 24 streams of live coverage, detailed schedule and results pages, and daily news stories.

Alongside full live streaming, catch-up coverage and highlights, the app will offer facts, statistics and information for every athlete, country and sport.

Phil Fearnley, General Manager BBC News & Knowledge, said: “We needed to ensure everyone could access our coverage.”

The user will also be able to access live daily text commentaries, news stories and a detailed schedule and results section covering every Olympics event.

Extra functionality of the app allows stories to be saved for offline reading, ensuring the latest information is accessible even when mobile reception is unavailable.

Additionally, iOS users can personalise the app by adding their favourite Olympics sports to the customisable tab bar, enabling quick access to the latest live action.

Fearnley added: “The BBC Sport Olympics app ensures that everything you need to keep up-to-date with the action is right there at your fingertips. Even when you’re out of range of 3G or wireless, we’ll still be able to deliver the latest news to you offline.

“The app adds even greater value to the BBC Sport mobile experience, ensuring you never miss a moment of the Games.”

Mayor of Bordeaux Alain Juppé has announced that the Vinci Concession and Fayat architectural group has won the right to construct a new 43, herbal 000 seater stadium in the city, unhealthy which will host games at the 2016 European Championships. 

The approximate cost will be €165 million (£147 million/$237 million), cialis and is also supported by Herzog & de Meuron, the Swiss architects who constructed the Allianz Arena in Munich, the home of German giants Bayern.

Juppé said: “This new modern, efficient building of a very high quality should be comfortable and accessible for those of limited mobility.”

Triaud said this week that he wants the stadium to have a classic Greek look modelled on other stadiums of a similar appearance around the world.

“I like the principle of a classical Greek construction, peripheral stairs which surround the stadium,” he said.

“I have seen beautiful stadiums in France and elsewhere where you have this impression.”

The new stadium – which is scheduled to open in 2015, a year before France stages the European Championships – will be funded by both private and public sources.

The state will provide €28 million (£25 million/$40 million), with another €15 million (£13 million/$22 million) coming from the Aquitaine region, and €17 million (£15 million/$24 million) from the city of Bordeaux.

Girondins de Bordeaux will then contribute €20 million (£18 million/$29 million) via their owners, TV chain M6, with a further annual payment of €3.85 million (£3.4 million/$5.5 million) over the next 30 years.

Former head of Asian Soccer Mohamed Bin Hammam claims revenge was the only thing on Sepp Baltter’s mind after he was given a life ban from the sport.

The Qatari became the highest-profile FIFA figure to be kicked out of the organisation.
He still remains ademanant in his innocence. “The ban for life shows how much these people are angry and how much they are full of revenge,” he said. 

He continues also to refer to the feeling of being guilty before the investigation began.

Asked whether he had paid $US 40,000 bribes to Caribbean Football Union members, Bin Hammam said he had only paid travel expenses for the infamous meeting in Trinidad and Tobago on May 10 and 11.

He remains confident in his appeal and he first do this with the FIFA’s Appeals Committee but admitted he would get no joy there and would have to work through more independent channels. 

“Then I should go to the civil courts in Switzerland where we have full confidence.