With London 2012 in the final lap new research has revealed athletes with the biggest sponsorship gains during the Olympics with Usain Bolt topping the table.

Sponsorship Today created the list which includes only those athletes whose endorsements are derived mainly from their activities as Olympians. It does not, therefore, include the big name basketball or tennis stars or even cyclist Bradley Wiggins, whose endorsements now come from his status as the winner of the Tour de France.

The list is, unsurprisingly, topped by Usain Bolt, who earns at least $20m per year, including a $9m deal from PUMA to be its global brand ambassador. Interesting Bolt is the only ‘Olympic’ athlete to make Forbes’ top 100 earners among sports stars – a list dominated by NFL, MBL, NBA and soccer stars with the odd tennis player and golfer included.

The other three ‘big earners’ on the Olympic list are Michael Phelps, whose record breaking feats put him over the $7m annual mark, Winter Olympian, Kim Yuna from South Korea and China’s Liu Xiang. The latter two demonstrate the growth of sponsorship in Asia in the past decade. Indeed Xiang was reported to earn $15m in 2008 when he was ‘poster boy’ for the Beijing Games.

Here’s the list:

1. Usain Bolt. Sprinter, Jamaica, $20m. Sponsors: Puma ($9m p.a), Visa, Gatorade, Nissan, Hublot, Virgin Media.

2. Kim Yuna. Ice skater, South Korea, $9m. Sponsors: Kookmin Bank, Nike, Korean Air, Hyundai.

3. Michael Phelps. Swimmer, USA, $7m. Sponsors: Speedo, Visa, Omega, and Under Armour.

4. Liu Xiang. Sprint hurdler, China, $4m (estimate). Sponsors: Nike, Visa, Chevrolet, Yili milk, China Mobile, Coca-Cola.

5. Yelena Isinbayeva. Pole vaulter, $2.7m (estimate) Russia. Sponsors: Li Ning ($1.5m), P&G, Visa.

6. Lolo Jones. Sprint hurdler, USA, $2.7m (estimate). Sponsors:  BP, Asics, Oakley, P&G, Red Bull.

7. Ryan Lochte. Swimmer, USA, $2.3m. Sponsors: Speedo, Mutual of Omaha, Gillette, Gatorade, P&G, Ralph Lauren, Nissan, AT&T.

8. Sanya Richards-Ross. Sprinter, USA, $2m. Sponsors: Nike, Inc, BP, BMW, Citibank, Amway.

9. Oscar Pistorius. Sprinter, South Africa, $2m. Sponsors: Nike, Thierry Mugler, Oakley, BT.

10. Jessica Ennis. Heptathlete, UK, $1.7m. Sponsors: Adidas BP, British Airways, Aviva, Powerade, Olay.

11. Sir Chris Hoy. Cyclist, UK, $1.5m. Sponsors: Kellogg’s, Harrods, Highland Spring water, Adidas, Scottish Power.

Panasonic Corporation, a sponsor of the Olympic Games, announced today that it will deliver the largest supply of its audio visual equipment for any Olympic Games in the company’s history to support the London 2012 Olympic Games to be held in July and August.

With its full line-up of high-definition (HD) equipment, Panasonic will provide strong support for the operation of the world’s largest sporting event, at sporting venues, broadcasting sites and homes, in cooperation with the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) and the Olympic Broadcasting Services London (OBSL). Panasonic will also bring the first-ever 3D Olympic Games to homes, based on the 3D technical partnership with the IOC and the Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS).

At the London 2012 Olympic Games, the video signals distributed by the International Broadcasting Center (IBC) to the broadcasters of each country will be distributed in the HD format. Additionally, the opening and closing ceremonies and events displayed on the large screens in the venue will also be distributed in HD video. Panasonic will support the first-ever 3D Olympic Games by providing its cutting-edge equipment and technology, such as its latest integrated twin-lens 3D camera recorders (AG-3DP1).

In addition to the company’s DVCPRO HD standards that have already been adopted as the video recording format, the adoption of the file-based work flow using the high quality AVC-Intra standards has been decided. Panasonic will offer a wide range of broadcasting equipment and devices to the IOC, including the solid-state memory ENG (Electronic News Gathering) product P2HD series. Since the Barcelona 1992 Olympic Games, the London 2012 Olympic Games is the tenth Olympic Games where Panasonic’s broadcasting equipment is adopted as the recording format.

For the opening ceremony that will be held at the Olympic Park, the world’s smallest and lightest 20,000 lumens projectors (PT-DZ21K and PT-DS20K) with a high brightness and high quality yet compact form will be installed. Panasonic will boost the mood of the opening and closing ceremonies by delivering vivid and impressive HD footage to the audience.

Panasonic will provide LED Large Screen Display Systems, offering the largest number of screens and the largest area ever at the competition venues. At the indoor event sites, 103-inch PDP displays will be adopted for the first time in the history of the Olympic Games.

Under the concept of “Sharing the Passion,” and through providing such cutting-edge equipment and sponsor activities, Panasonic will deliver the thrills brought about by world’s top athletes along with their passion, tension and dynamic performance. The company is aiming to provide an exciting experience not only for spectators at each event site, but also for the viewers at each home across the globe through its wonderful broadcasting technology.

The Emergency Committee of world soccer’s governing body, FIFA, decided on Friday, June 17, to suspend the Football Federation of Belize (FFB) with immediate effect on account of severe governmental interference.

The suspension forced the postponement of the return leg of the qualifying tie for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, due to be played in Belize yesterday, June 19, between the home team and Montserrat.

The suspension was enforced due to the government of Belize, through the Ministry of Sports, informing the FFB that it was “not authorized to represent this Country in any local or international competition or in any other forum for football on behalf of the Government, People and Nation of Belize”, since it had “failed to meet the requirements for registration with the Council, as the National body for the administration of football in Belize”, according to the Ministry on June 8.

Two days later, FIFA wrote to the FFB to inform them that this was a clear case of governmental interference and gave the FFB until 30 June to settle the dispute or be referred to the FIFA Emergency Committee for suspension due to a violation of the FIFA Statutes.

The deadline was cut short after the Belize government wrote to FIFA on 16 June saying the Belize police would “not be providing any services to the Federation with respect to the security of the visiting team and officials at the match” to be played on 19 June.

Under these circumstances, and due to the interference of the government of Belize, FIFA claimed that it could not take the responsibility of letting the match take place. The match has therefore been postponed to a new date to be confirmed, but no later than 10 July 2011, provided that the situation is back to normal regarding the FFB and the suspension has been lifted by that date.

In the event that the match cannot take place by that date, the national team of Belize will be excluded from the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil preliminary competition.

Football Federation Australia (FFA) Director Moya Dodd has been appointed as a member of the International Council of Arbitration for Sport (ICAS).

Moya will join as an athlete representative, apoplectic having played football for Australia with the Matildas from 1986 -1995. She replaces Thomas Bach, discount who was recently elected as President of the International Olympic Committee.

The ICAS which comprises 20 distinguished international lawyers with sports and arbitration backgrounds. It supervises the management of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), an international body set up to settle disputes within the sports industry.

“I am delighted to serve as an ICAS member and grateful for the opportunity to contribute to the good governance of world sport in this way,” said Moya.

John Coates, ICAS President said, “Moya will bring her strong experience, both as an international lawyer and former elite football player to advise the ICAS with respect to athletes’ legal preoccupations.”

Moya is a director of Football Federation Australia, Vice-President of the Asian Football Confederation, and a member of the FIFA Executive Committee and its Legal Committee. She was last year named in the Australian Financial Review’s 100 Women of Influence following her role in persuading FIFA to change the ‘hijab’ rule which banned women from playing football while wearing a headscarf.

Die Übertragungen von den Olympischen Spielen in London ziehen das Publikum nach wie vor in den Bann: 10, decease 30 Millionen ZDF-Zuschauer verfolgten am Dienstagabend das spannende Diskus-Finale der Männer, das Robert Harting für sich entscheiden konnte und damit der deutschen Leichtathletik die erste olympische Goldmedaille seit zwölf Jahren bescherte. Das ist der bisherige TV-Spitzenwert für Übertragungen von den Olympischen Spielen 2012.

Nicht nur die Leichtathletik-Übertragungen erreichten Spitzenwerte und Marktanteile von bis zu 32,7 Prozent, auch das Gewichtheben am späteren Abend verfolgten bis zu 8,93 Millionen Zuschauer am Bildschirm.

Durchschnittlich sahen 3,57 Millionen Zuschauer die bisherigen ZDF-Olympia-Sendungen aus London. Das entspricht einem Marktanteil von 24,6 Prozent.

SugarSync, a free service that actively syncs your folders and files across all your computers and mobile devices, today announced that it’s providing sponsored Wi-Fi at the Euro 2012, which are being held in Poland and Ukraine from June 8 through July 1.

SugarSync will be providing free Wi-Fi for all Euro 2012 visitors in and around the SugarSync Wi-Fi Lounge and in the festival areas, which will be located outside select stadiums throughout Poland.

The SugarSync Wi-Fi Lounge will be equipped with computers and tablets, enabling anyone who does not have a computer or mobile device to get online. For those who have their own computers or mobile devices, they can easily use their devices to get online. And for those who don’t want to stop and sit in the SugarSync Lounge to connect, the free Wi-Fi will also be generally available to everyone in the areas surrounding the Lounge as well.

Laura Yecies, CEO of SugarSync, said: “One of the many benefits of Cloud services is the ability to stay connected to all of your files, photos, music and videos no matter where you are, and that is particularly useful when traveling. With more than two million people expected to attend the Euro 2012 tournament, we want to give everyone a way to stay connected with our free Wi-Fi lounge and service. Whether they want to connect to the Cloud so they can backup and share their photos from the event or just need to check email, the SugarSync Wi-Fi Lounge will help get them connected.”

The former president of world soccer’s governing body FIFA, João Havelange, is being investigated by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Ethics Commission over allegations made in a BBC Panorama programme that he received a US$1m bribe.

Havelange has been a member of the IOC since 1963 and at 95, the Brazilian is the most senior member at the body. He was alleged by the programme to have received the “bung” from FIFA’s collapsed marketing partner, ISL.

FIFA have refused to investigate the claims but now it has been revealed that the IOC requested the information from Panorama shortly after the programme was broadcast last November in controversial fashion, just days before the vote on who would host the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.

A spokesman for the IOC told the Guardian: “The IOC takes all allegations of corruption very seriously and we would always ask for any evidence of wrongdoing involving any IOC members to be passed to our Ethics Commission.

“The Ethics Commission launched its inquiry before Christmas last year, after the first BBC Panorama programme went on air. 

“The Commission has received supporting documents from the BBC and is now in the process of verifying the authenticity of the material that has been gathered so far.

“It is therefore pursuing its work and, although we cannot speak on its behalf as it is conducting its work independently, as a general principle they would always look at any available evidence of wrongdoing by IOC members while the process is ongoing.”

Havelange was elected as President of FIFA in 1974 and held the post until 1998 when Sepp Blatter, his chosen successor, who had worked closely with him as FIFA’s general secretary, succeeded him.

Cameroon’s Issa Hayatou, a member of FIFA’s Executive Committee who is also on the IOC, is already under investigation by the Ethics Commission as a result of the controversial programme.

According to the broadcast, a list of secret payments made by now defunct marketing company ISL included one of 100,000 French francs in 1995 to Hayatou.

He has denied the allegations.