England’s friendly against Belgium at Wembley next month will be used to test the Hawk-Eye goalline technology system, world governing body FIFA said on Thursday.

Independent testers from EMPA (Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology) and representatives from FIFA will monitor the system although it will not be available for use by the match officials on June 2.

The Hawk-Eye system was also tested in a English minor league cup final between Eastleigh and AFC Totton in April.An alternative system, GoalRef, has undergone trials at two Danish league matches this month.

“Such tests, along with those being conducted for the GoalRef system in Denmark, could lead to the International Football Association Board approving the introduction of goalline technology at its special meeting at the beginning of July,” a statement said.

FIFA stressed that the officials at the England versus Belgium match, the last for the hosts before the start of Euro 2012, would not be able to use Hawk-Eye in the event of a close decision on the goalline.

“Should a goalline incident occur at this or any of the ‘test’ matches, the system will not be utilised by the match officials,” FIFA said.”It means the GLT system will have no influence on the outcome of the matches in which the system is being tested.”

The English FA has long campaigned for the introduction of goalline technology with the debate surfacing every time there is a controversial incident such as Frank Lampard’s shot against Germany in the 2010 World Cup that clearly bounced down over the line but was not awarded as a goal.

English Premier League soccer club Tottenham Hotspur and English League One side Leyton Orient have both had their bids for a judicial review of the Olympic Stadium decision rejected.

The two London clubs objected to the Olympic Park Legacy Company’s verdict that English Championship club West Ham United and Newham Council should be the future occupants of the venue.

However, Judge Mr Justice Davis told them there are no grounds for a review.

A Spurs statement said they would consider their options over the next few days, with a renewal of their application at an oral hearing in the High Court possible.

The statement, posted on the club’s website, added: “The club continues to hold discussions with both local and national government bodies in order to seek to determine a feasible stadium solution.”

The Olympic Park Legacy Company responded to the news: “We are pleased with the ruling and continue to make good progress in our negotiations with the preferred bidder in order to be in a position to agree the final terms for the stadium’s lease.”

Newham Council, who have arranged a US$64m loan to finance West Ham’s move to the stadium, said: “We are continuing to focus on securing a lasting legacy for the stadium and, together with West Ham United, are progressing well with the Olympic Park Legacy Company on bringing the matter to a commercial and financial close.”

West Ham vice-chairman Karren Brady said: “We welcome today’s news as a further endorsement of our strong and viable legacy vision.

“We hope we can now focus all our energy and passion on delivering a fantastic multi-use Olympic Stadium for the whole nation.

“We were honoured to be unanimously chosen as preferred bidder by the OPLC. Their decision, after a robust and diligent process, was subsequently backed by the Mayor of London and government.

“Our vision – in partnership with the London Borough of Newham – remains for a globally-recognised destination for all, with community at its core, capable of hosting world-class sporting events, including top-level football and athletics.”

East London club West Ham, who were relegated from the English Premier League last season, were unanimously chosen as the preferred occupant. Their proposals for the Olympic stadium include a reduction of the stadium’s capacity from 80,000 to 60,000 seats after the Olympics, and to use it as a multipurpose venue, retaining the running track.

Chuck Blazer, the American general secretary of CONCACAF, has been questioned by FIFA’s ethics committee after complaints were made against him by Caribbean associations.

Blazer sent in the report which sparked the investigation that led to the suspension of fellow FIFA members Jack Warner and Mohamed Bin Hammam on bribery charges.

The complaint against the American is related to remarks Blazer is alleged to have made in a meeting in Zurich in May, though Blazer stated: “I am confident of a positive resolution.”

The official complaint was made in a letter to the committee signed by 11 heads of Caribbean federations relating to Blazer’s behaviour at a CONCACAF meeting before last month’s FIFA Congress and does not refer in any way to the bribery issues currently under investigation by world football’s governing body.

The letter said Blazer made “statements of contempt and slander that served to impugn the integrity, discriminate against and infringe upon the personal rights” of CONCACAF members.

A Caribbean football source told Reuters the meeting spilled over into a row over who should take over as acting president after Warner was suspended, during which Blazer told some Caribbean officials they faced investigation.

The letter of complaint continues: “The statement of Mr Blazer flouts the principle of a person being innocent before being proven guilty.”

It says Blazer “violated the personal rights” of Captain Horace Burrell, the president of the Jamaican Football Federation – Blazer blocked him becoming active vice-president of CONCACAF.

It also alleges Blazer “discriminated against Capt Burrell and certain members of the CONCACAFthrough his contemptuous and denigratory words since all the persons who were singled out were of a specific race”.

FIFA and the National Organizing Committee have unveiled the Official Slogan for the FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015: TO A GREATER GOAL.

“The Official Slogan is a core part of the identity of a FIFA competition. TO A GREATER GOAL has a very strong meaning in terms of what the FIFA Women’s World Cup can achieve and leave as a legacy, click not only in Canada but also in general for the development of women’s football worldwide, viagra coupon ” said Tatjana Haenni, drugs FIFA Deputy Director of the Competitions Division and Head of Women’s Competitions.

”For sport, for women, for Canada: those are three qualities that highlight our ambitions in hosting a successful FIFA Women’s World Cup,” said Victor Montagliani, chairman of the National Organizing Committee and President of the Canadian Soccer Association. “In welcoming the world, the FIFA Women’s World Cup can serve TO A GREATER GOAL. Our Official Slogan serves a dual purpose for the sport and for humanity. It represents the best of on-field performance and a unique victory for all, beginning with girls and women.

”It is significant that our Official Slogan TO A GREATER GOAL is presented for the first time here in Winnipeg. Always one of Canada’s important football cities because of its central location, Winnipeg was the site of our first-ever women’s national team camp back on Canada Day 1 July 1986. Incidentally, Winnipeg also hosted our first-ever home women’s international friendly match four years later on 23 July 1990.

”For more than 100 years, soccer has been one of our most-beloved sports in Canada, boasting some of the country’s greatest athletes, ambassadors and heroes. More than 30 years ago when we launched our national competition in 1982, we were one of the few countries in the world that embraced women’s soccer. Today, more than 125 countries are participating in this one-of-a-kind sporting competition, with 24 finalists to reach the FIFA Women’s World Cup finals from 6 June to 5 July 2015.” 

The FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015 Official Slogan, TO A GREATER GOAL, will feature prominently in all promotional elements in the lead up to the competition and during the competition itself. The FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015 runs coast to coast across Canada in six Host Cities: Vancouver, British Columbia; Edmonton, Alberta; Winnipeg, Manitoba; Ottawa, Ontario; Montreal, Quebec; and Moncton, New Brunswick.

To help engage fans in Canada and abroad, FIFA and the National Organizing Committee will encourage fans to use digital media to share their own meanings of the slogan TO A GREATER GOAL. In following the lead on FIFA’s official handle @fifawwc, fans can also use the hashtag #GreaterGoal in English or #GrandBut in French.

The Club Managers Association of Europe (CMAE), rx whose members are club managers at a variety of golf and sports clubs throughout Europe, has elected Arnaldo Cocuzza CCM as its President at their recent Annual General Meeting in Rome, the first Italian club manager to be elected to the post.

48 year old Arnaldo Cocuzza is the General Manager of Golf Club Milano, one of Italy’s oldest and most prestigious golf clubs.  He achieved his CCM (Certified Club Manager) status in November 2011, again, the first Italian club manager to achieve this status.

On taking office, Arnaldo said: “I am deeply honoured to be elected to the post of CMAE President by my fellow club managers.  I hope that in the next few years,I will keep building on the good work of our previous presidents and boards in the development of club management education throughout Europe”.

He continued: “In the past two years, my predecessor, Jorgen Kjellgren presided over the launch of the CMAE’s Management Development Programme (MDP) series of educational courses, which have been very successful and very well received.  Feedback from club managers who have attended these courses has been very positive.  I hope that with the help of my colleagues on the CMAE Board of Directors, our corporate and MDP partners, we can continue to provide these courses to club managers is many countries of Europe and support our members with certification opportunities to increase their value to their club employers and to help them develop their careers as professional club managers”.

Prior to becoming the General Manager of Golf Club Milano, Arnaldo was the General Manager of Le Pavoneire Golf & Country Club and Club Manager of Golf Club Padova, both in Italy. He has spent over 22 years in various club management roles and is married with two children.

The London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) today confirmed that yesterday the 2 millionth ticketed spectator passed through the Olympic Park since the beginning of the Games. 

Olympic fever also continues to rise around the country, ambulance with venues and big screens across the UK attracting huge crowds as people cheer on the athletes. To date, order the London 2012 Live Sites have seen 2.7 million people attend, with the busiest day being Super Saturday (4^th August) – which saw an incredible 350,000 people turn out to support all athletes. An estimated 160,000 spectators also took to the streets of central London to witness Olympic history as Alistair Brownlee became the first British athlete to win gold in the Men’s Triathlon event (7^th August). 120,000 spectators lined the streets for the Women’s Marathon (5^th August) and 60,000 turned out for the Women’s Triathlon (4^th August).

LOCOG Chair, Seb Coe said: “The passion and spirit of the British public has been outstanding. The huge crowds have contributed to making the atmosphere at events in both the Olympic Park and venues around the country incredible. I am very proud of the performance of our athletes, of my team which has given its heart and soul to these Games over the last seven years as well as the brilliant volunteers who seem to be having an extraordinary impact on everyone they meet.”

Lotus F1 Team has agreed a partnership with rock band Linkin Park to launch its first iPad App.

help 255, 255, 0.917969);”>The app “Linkin Park GP” will launch as a free download on all iTunes stores worldwide from Thursday 24th May. Emanating from a unique creative collaboration between Lotus F1 Team and Linkin Park, “Linkin Park GP” allows iPad users to drive a Lotus E20 and interact with a 360 environment to create an original remix of Linkin Park’s latest worldwide hit single, ‘Burn It Down’.

Designed by Clicmobile, the app utilises an interactive user remix experience for the first time on iPad – with multiple audio tracks and live effects synchronised and mixed in real time in response to user actions on the accelerometer sensors and multitouch screen of the device. As a result, users are put closer to the music by zooming into sections of the song – even into individual instruments – to create a unique listening experience that is nonetheless recognizable as the hit song from the album.

“We are really happy to be able to collaborate with Lotus F1 Team to create a first-of-its-kind game that combines the thrill of Formula 1 with our song. Our fans love Formula 1 and this is a very fun way for them to be able to interact with our music,” said Linkin Park co-lead vocalist Mike Shinoda.

Lotus F1 Team’s app will be promoted to Linkin Park’s fans – including 42 million on Facebook – and Lotus F1 Team’s growing social networks. It will also benefit from Warner Bros Records’ and Universal Music Publishing’s support worldwide.

In order to celebrate the launch of this app, both E20s will feature a Linkin Park logo in Monaco this weekend.

Patrick Louis, CEO, Lotus F1 Team: “People who follow our team know that we’ve always been close to the music world – our music compilation launched in Australia being one example. Now we go a step further by creating our joint app with one of the biggest bands in the world. Linkin Park have millions of fans across the globe. We are happy to reach out to them and show that once again Lotus F1 Team is doing something creative and different in our communications approach. I would like to thank Warner Bros Records, Universal Music and the band’s management, The Collective, for their enthusiasm and contribution to this unique project.”

The home of the National Football League’s (NFL) Seattle Seahawks and Major League Soccer (MLS) outfit Seattle Sounders has a new name following the acquisition of Qwest by CenturyLink.

The 67,000 seater stadium has been known as Qwest Field since 2004, but will become CenturyLink Field as part of a rebranding exercise that has accelerated since CenturyLink’s takeover in April.

The naming rights agreement was actually negotiated seven years ago, though the terms are believed to be unchanged, with CenturyLink taking over the US$75m ten year contract. The deal is due to expire at the end of 2014, with a five year renewal option option according to The Seattle Times.

The stadium opened in 2002 and was originally known as Seahawks Stadium, until a naming rights deal was agreed, construction cost some US$430m.

Qwest was purchased by fellow telecommunications company CenturyLink in April for a total of US$22.4bn, including some US$11.8bn of debt.