The Indian Super League has secured eight new franchise holders, the organisers have announced.

IMG Reliance, the joint venture between IMG Worldwide and Reliance Industries in India, Star India and the All India Football Federation are organising the inaugural football championship which will begin in September and continue to November this year. 

The Indian Super League’s proposal for ‘League Partners’ received an overwhelming response from the business, sports and Bollywood community, to own a team from the nine proposed cities in contention.

The winning bidders represent a strong mix of corporate entities and celebrities:

-Sun Group the Indian conglomerate for BENGALURU.
-Chairman Sameer Manchanda of the cable provider Den Network for DELHI.
-Venugopal Dhoot of the industrial conglomerate Videoco, with Dattaraj Salgaocar and Shrinivas V. Dempo for GOA.
-The Indian film actor John Abraham partnering with the I-League team Shillong Lajong for GUWAHATI.
-Renowned Indian cricketer, Sachin Tendulkar and the media and entertainment investment firm PVP Ventures for KOCHI.
-Former captain of the Indian National team Sourav Ganguly, Harshavardhan Neotia, Spanish football Club Atletico Madrid, Sanjeev Goenka, Utsav Parekh for KOLKATA.
-Bollywood’s Ranbir Kapoor, one of the leading Indian film actors for MUMBAI.
-Indian actor, producer, television presenter and philanthropist Salman Khan together with Kapil Wadhawan and Dheeraj Wadhawan of the Indian conglomerate Wadhawan Group for PUNE.

Each of the winning bidders paid approximately $25 million for a 10-year franchise, valuing the original eight franchises at about $200 million.

“It is with great pride that I welcome the eight League Partners to the Indian Super League. We want to unlock the unbound aspirational energy of our youth through grassroots and community development programs,” said Nita M. Ambani of Reliance Industries. “Together, we will strive to build a vibrant ecosystem that will provide impetus to football in India. As mentor of the League, I commit myself to development of football as a major sport for the youth of India.”

“Today’s announcement is the culmination of several years of hard work and strategic planning,” said Michael Dolan, Chairman and Chief Executive of IMG and Chairman of IMG Reliance. “We are enormously pleased at the level of interest the creation of the Indian Super League has generated. We believe the League signals the beginning of a new era in the development of football in India and, in the future, will be the source of great pride for the people of India.”

With empty seats dominating headlines at London 2012, stomach new audience figures have revealed that more than two million people have already watched Olympic events during the first three days of the Olympics.

Empty spaces seen at some venues have caused frustration for organisers and angered fans who missed out on tickets for ‘sold out’ events.

However, allergy figures published from the first three days of competition reveal that 2.126 million people have so far attended events, with 856,000 spectators at events on Saturday alone.

On Monday LOCOG released 3000 more tickets and LOCOG chairman Sebastian Coe revealed intentions to plug the gaps with students and military troops.

Virgin Media has been selected to provide Wi-Fi for London’s underground system during the Olympics

London Mayor Boris Johnson’s office said in a statement Wednesday that Wi-Fi will be introduced at 80 stations before summer. By the end of the year, 120 Tube stations, many of them deep underground, will be connected.

Starting in July, passengers on the underground system, called the Tube, will be able to connect for free.

After the Olympics, Wi-Fi at Tube stations will be made available as part of Virgin Media’s broadband and mobile subscriptions.

Gareth Powell, an official at Transport for London, says the move means Tube passengers will have access to emails, web and social media underground for the first time.

The Olympics start July 27 and end Aug. 12.

by Ismail Uddin

Startling new revelations emerged today over the chain of events that led to the biggest corruption scandal in the history of FIFA.

It has been reported that at least five national associations from CONCACAF president Jack Warner’s Caribbean Football Union (CFU) were offered cash bungs but refused to accept them.

Although the countries cannot be named, bribes, understood to amount to several thousand dollars in cash, are believed to be documented in a file of evidence put together by a firm of US-based lawyers and sent to FIFA.

The sweeteners were handed over by two junior CFU officials who face the FIFA Ethics Committee along with Warner and presidential candidate Mohammed Bin Hammam. While several associations refused to accept the offers, others readily accepted the money for “development projects” having been assured no rules were being broken.

If found guilty by the Ethics Committee, Bin Hammam and Warner face severe sentences and the news would all but end the former’s dwindling hopes of dethroning current presidential incumbent Sepp Blatter. Warner is also a key figure in the June 1 elections as he has stated that CONCACAF will vote as a bloc next week, totalling a large section of the available votes.

The bribery allegations have been made by American FIFA Executive Committee member Chuck Blazer, who has declined all comment. Blazer has worked with Warner for a generation at the head of CONCACAF but considered the information he discovered so damning he had no choice but to alert FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke.

Bin Hammam and Warner have both denied any wrongdoing and Bin Hammam was making no effort to hide from his colleagues as he freely attended today’s FIFA Finance Committee meeting in Zurich.

Insideworldfootball claims that the documentation provided to FIFA shows that Warner and Bin Hammam exchanged a series of private emails arranging the Trinidad meeting where the bribes allegedly took place well before the CONCACAF Congess in Miami. The files reportedly date back to long before Bin Hammam had encountered problems with a visa which prevented him attending the Congress.

Sources have confirmed that the pair initially discussed holding a second full CONCACAF summit just for Bin Hammam to explain his election manifesto, though it is believed that Blazer blocked that move so Warner turned it into a event solely for Caribbean members of CONCACAF, where allegedly, the money was handed over for “development projects”.

Meanwhile, Bin Hammam says the evidence submitted to FIFA about his own alleged misconduct means Blatter himself broke FIFA’s code of ethics by not reporting the apparent corruption attempt.

The Qatari challenger issued a statement infering that Blatter knew about the accusations of bribery but did nothing – in order to cement his own position, reading: “The accusations .. contain statements according to which Mr. Blatter, the incumbent FIFA President, was informed of, but did not oppose, payments allegedly made to members of the Caribbean Football Union.

“As the recent accusations also mention incumbent FIFA President Joseph Blatter, Mohamed Bin Hammam has requested that the investigation be extended to include Mr Blatter.”

Bin Hammam suggested the crisis was a concerted plan to damage him and force him to withdraw from the election next Wednesday (June 1), adding: “It is no coincidence that these allegations have been made only a few days before the 61st FIFA Congress, at which the new FIFA president will be elected.”

Since making these claims FIFA have released the following statement: “On 26 May 2011, FIFA Executive Committee member Mohamed bin Hammam has requested the FIFA Ethics Committee to open ethics proceedings against FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter on the basis that, in the report submitted by FIFA Executive Committee member Chuck Blazer earlier this week, FIFA Vice-President Jack A. Warner would have informed the FIFA President in advance about alleged cash payments to delegations attending a special meeting of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) apparently organised jointly by Jack A. Warner and Mohamed bin Hammam on 10 and 11 May 2011 and that the FIFA President would have had no issue with these.

“Subsequently, the FIFA Ethics Committee today opened a procedure against the FIFA President in compliance with art. 16 of the FIFA Code of Ethics.

“Joseph S. Blatter has been invited to take position by 28 May 2011, 11:00 CET and to attend a hearing by the FIFA Ethics Committee at the Home of FIFA (Zurich) on 29 May 2011.”

It has been confirmed that the first competitive sports to take place in the Olympic Park will be basketball, beach volleyball, mountain biking and BMX.

LOCOG revealed the events as part of the ‘London Prepares’ series of tests, with London 2012 charging for tickets for four sporting events with mountain biking and beach volleyball will also feature in the rehearsal series for the Olympic Games next year. 

Mountain biking will begin proceedings on 31st July, beach volleyball follows on 9th-14th August, with basketball and BMX on the 16th-21st and 19th-20th August respectively. 

Teams from Great Britain, France, China, Australia, Croatia and Serbia will compete in the men’s only basketball event while beach volleyball will involve the women’s teams from Great Britain and China.

The events will be used to test various areas of the stadia, with the main forms of testing being concentrated on fields of play, technology and people – including athletes, fans, staff and volunteers with more than 150,000 tickets set to go on sale.

Paul Deighton, CEO of the London Olympic Organising Committee, said: “We need to take our plans and test them on the ground, really this is the most important part of our readiness mission. Although our venues won’t be dressed in their Games finery, a number of events will give the public a chance to see some world-class sporting action ahead of next yea.

“These events are our opportunity to try out our new venues, test new technology and equipment and walk our extended teams through their roles and responsibilities. We have learned a lot from previous Games which we will put to good use as we challenge ourselves over the next 12 months.”

Inter Milan have confirmed owner Erick Thohir has been officially elected president of the Nerazzurri board with his predecessor Massimo Moratti named honorary chairman.

Thohir’s company International Sports Capital officially became the new majority shareholder on Friday with a 70 per cent stake in the Italian giants “by virtue of a dedicated capital increase”.

And in Friday’s shareholders’ meeting, an eight-man board of directors was elected before Thohir was named president.

“I really want to thank my friend and new partner Massimo Moratti for the trust and support, and thank also my partners Rosan and Handy, who I’ve known for more than 20 years; I want also to thank our families. Most of all, thanks to our supporters all around the world and wherever I met them, on Twitter or personally,” said Thohir.

“This is a truly special day in my life. Inter is a magnificent story of passion, a tradition of winning and commitment to excellence.

“As (former Inter defender and president) Giacinto Facchetti said, ‘The secret of every triumph lies in your own belief’. Our belief lies in our passion and our passion will pave the way for Inter’s future success. Forza Inter.”

Moratti is delighted with the takeover and believes International Sports Capital is a company that can add to Inter’s success.

“I am truly pleased I have found the new owners of this glorious club,” said Moratti to the club’s official website.

“I am convinced they are more than equipped to keep on adding new successes to our beloved colours. Personally I feel honoured I have been the president of Inter for so many years.”

Chinese companies are enjoying increased brand awareness because of their Olympic sponsorship campaigns according to a report by Ipsos Digital Research.

The report, which was based on a survey of Chinese consumers, said dairy company Yili has benefited the most from its Olympic sponsorship with a 22 percent increase in brand awareness. Apparel and sports equipment company Anta Sport increased its brand awareness by 21 percent and wool producer Heng Yaun Xiang’s increased by 18 percent.

The report also indicates that people are more likely to buy from a company if it is an Olympic sponsor. A massive 91 percent of those surveyed said they would purchase products from internet company Sina Corp after being told it was an Olympic sponsor. {jcomments on}

Circuit of The Americas, pills the soon to be home of the 2012 US Formula One Grand Prix, sale has selected Phunware, Inc., the leader in enterprise branded mobile application infrastructure, to build its branded mobile application venue experience.

Phunware creates powerful anytime, anywhere solutions for mobile consumer engagement for many of the largest and most recognizable brands in the world.

Geoff Moore, chief marketing and revenue officer for Circuit of The Americas, said: “Phunware is a leader in the industry for creating amazing branded mobile experiences. We look forward to working with them in our continued effort to bring fans the ultimate race experience leading up to the 2012 US Formula One Grand Prix.”

Phunware is an Austin-based company whose work includes developing mobile applications for some of the most recognized brands in sports, including NASCAR, the National Football League and ESPN. Applications developed by Phunware have received multiple awards, including two People’s Choice Webby Awards, two CableFAX Awards and a feature as CNN and Time Magazine’s Top 10 iPhone Apps of the Year.

“We are extremely excited for the opportunity to bring Circuit of The Americas and the 2012 US Formula One Grand Prix to life through the Circuit’s mobile application,” said Alan S. Knitowski, chairman and CEO for Phunware. “Circuit of The Americas will be a world-class venue providing an unparalleled race experience in the United States and our aim is to create an application that complements and enhances the fan experience.”

The Circuit of The Americas mobile application will feature a 3-D interactive map and virtual tour of the venue, a guide to Austin with area information and news, alerts and videos highlighting activities throughout race weekend. The appeal of new technology in connection to Austin is evident as the city hosts thousands of visitors for the SXSW Interactive conference, which began Friday, March 9.

The 2012 US Formula One Grand Prix, along with the SXSW conference, are two of Austin’s biggest draws for visitors from around the world. In a recent meeting held in London with several politicians and diplomats, including the office of the London Mayor, the Honorable Boris Johnson and Austin Mayor Lee Leffingwell, these two events were the key topics of discussion.

“Austin continues to be recognized around the world for its leadership and innovation in the technology industry,” said Gray Hancock, Head of Trade and Investment for the British Consulate-General in Houston. “The upcoming Grand Prix is just one more example of Austin’s growing importance on the global stage.”

In addition to general excitement for race weekend, Mayor Leffingwell and representatives from the City of London reviewed the possibility of a direct flight between Austin and London to support the Formula 1 teams as well as travelers to the event. The creation of such a nonstop flight could result in accelerating a permanent route, one of the many benefits on the horizon as a result of Formula 1 returning to the United States.

“Austin is making tremendous strides as a destination city and world-renowned center for technology,” said Mayor Leffingwell. “I look forward to the inaugural 2012 US Formula One Grand Prix at Circuit of The Americas and to downloading the app to go with it.”

by Ismail Uddin