English Championship club Nottingham Forest have announced losses of £17.1million for the last financial year, putting them in peril of breaking Financial Fair Play rules this season.

The club breached FFP limits in 2012/13, when allowable losses were £10million.

Crucially, there were no punishments in place for breaching the rules last season – but there are this season with Sky Bet Championship clubs allowed to lose£8million.

If Forest fail to reduce the deficit for the current campaign, they could be hit with fines and a transfer embargo next season.

When asked about the club’s financial situation recently, Reds chairman Fawaz Al Hasawi said that the issue would be addressed in the form of sponsorship deals from several companies in his homeland of Kuwait.

The end-of-year accounts submitted on Wednesday morning showed that staff costs were up from £17.6million in 2011/12 to £21million, with wages accounting for £18.4million, dwarfing the club’s turnover figure of £14.4million.

Kuwaiti owners, the Al Hasawi family, backed Forest considerably with £35.4million owed to them in the form of interest free loans, which would only be repayable when the club was in a position to do so, according to the accounts.

The average league attendance at the City Ground increased last season from 21,969 to 23,083, with the team performing better on the pitch following their fight against relegation during the 2011/12 campaign.

This also meant there was a raise in income from gate receipts, growing 6% to£7.1million. However, this was offset by a £700,000 reduction in the basic award from the Football League to £1.8million.

Tommy Smith has been named the CEO and President of the Tennessee Titans on Tuesday, one day after late owner Bud Adams was laid to rest. 

In a statement, Smith, Adams’ son-in-law, first thanked friends and fans for their support before saying he will take over the organization. Adams’ daughters will also play a role in the organization.

“As for the Titans organization, we are moving forward with the same goals and a similar structure.  As a family, we have agreed that I will be President and CEO of the Titans; and additionally Susie Adams Smith and Amy Adams Hunt will serve as Co-Chairpersons and Kenneth Adams IV will join the Titans board as a Director.”

Smith continued that he will continue both Bud’s passion for the game and his commitment to the city of Nashville and the Mid-South region.

“We are excited for what lies ahead for this franchise and our fans,” he said.

Following Tuesday’s announcement, Titans head coach Mike Munchak said, “[Smith] always stayed involved with the team. He’s always been very knowledgeable about what is going on with the team when we have talked.”

Titans Executive Vice President Don MacLachlan added, “[He] has had a vision for the organization for a long time. He wants what’s best for the city of Nashville and the State of Tennessee.”

Both Munchak and MacLachlan have known Smith for decades.

“Football is always something [Smith] stayed on top of.  He understands the game very well, the players very well and the talent level it takes to win, so he’s got a great handle on this football team and he wants a winner just like Mr. Adams did,” Munchak said.

MacLachlan, who is in charge of the team’s off-field endeavors, told News 2 he “believes the community will embrace” the new CEO “because he wants to make sure we keep this on the right track, that we keep giving back to this community as they have given to us and its not something lost on Tommy or anyone in the organization.”

Smith will likely make his first appearance in Nashville as the team’s CEO in the coming weeks.

Adams died last week of natural causes at his Houston home.  He was 90.  On Monday, hundreds of people attended a memorial service honoring Adams.

The race to host the 2020 Summer Olympics will now intensify after Istanbul, Madrid and Tokyo officially submitted their bids to be the host city for the 2020 summer Olympics.

The three cities handed over their files to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Lausanne on Monday – exactly eight months before the vote which will decide who wins.

The books run to several hundred pages and represent the cities’ master plan of venues, budgets, financial guarantees, security, accommodation and other key aspects of the projects.

The files are to be released publicly by the bid cities on Tuesday.

Tsunekazu Takeda, IOC Member and President of both the Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC) and Tokyo 2020, said: “With tremendous support from people in Tokyo and across Japan, we have celebrated a memorable milestone today with the submission of our Candidature File. Based on lessons from our bid for the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games, we have retained the best of that bid plan while adding important new strengths. Now that our Candidature File is complete, Tokyo is one step closer to implementing an innovative and inspiring Games plan. The Games in 2020 in Tokyo will offer athletes, spectators and Olympic and Paralympic Family members a true once-in-a-lifetime experience.”

Hasan Arat, leader of the Istanbul 2020 Bid Committee, said: “We are delighted to be here in the Olympic capital with this group of unified stakeholders to share our vision with the IOC. This milestone is the latest step in our 20-year journey to win the honour of hosting the Games. For the very first time, our desire to host the Games is matched by our capacity. We have been learning and evolving every step of the way, and today we are submitting a brand new and dramatically enhanced Games concept. Istanbul 2020 has a technically outstanding master plan and delivery structure, and we would grab the world’s attention with a breathtaking setting and a series of groundbreaking firsts, such as being the first ever Games held in two continents simultaneously. Now is the time for Istanbul; now we are ready to deliver.”

The IOC’s evaluation commission, headed by Craig Reedie of Britain, will visit the cities in March and prepare a report for IOC members in June.

The full IOC will select the host city in a secret ballot in Buenos Aires on 7 September.

The 2020 field initially included six candidates, but Rome dropped out when the Italian government refused to offer financial support and the IOC cut Doha, Qatar and Azerbaijan’s capital Baku from the list last year.

The new Technology Operations Centre is to be officially unveiled today by London 2012 and Atos, the worldwide information technology partner for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, which will facilitate as the command centre for all 94 Olympic competition and non-competition venues

The launch follows the first phase of the London Prepares Series, during which the London 2012 technology team together with Atos, the lead integrator and the other technology partners have worked in partnership to deliver the IT for all the test events.

The Technology Operations Centre monitors and controls the IT systems that deliver the results from all the Olympic and Paralympic sports competitions to the world’s media in real time.  

For the London 2012 Games, Atos expects to process 30 per cent more results data than in Beijing in 2008 ensuring the world’s media meets the increasing demand of fans for information as it happens. 

With 8.5 billion PCs, smart phones and tablets predicted to be connected to the internet by 2012, London is set to be the biggest smart Games ever.

One of the technology improvements for the London 2012 Games is that, for the first time ever in the Summer Games, all 26 Olympic sports and five of the Paralympic sports have been added to the Commentator Information System (CIS).  

Managed, centrally from the Technology Operations Centre, the CIS provides commentators and journalists with touch-screen technology that gives results in real time, so quick they can see the results before they hear the roar of the crowd, officials claim.

It is also the first time broadcasters will have access both in London and their home countries to the system for all Olympic and five Paralympic sports.

During Games time, the Technology Operations Centre will operate at full capacity with about 450 business technologists covering 180 positions, to manage and monitor 24/7 the technology infrastructure and systems including IT security, telecommunications, power and the results systems. 

It will be staffed by a combined team comprising the London 2012 technology team, Atos and the other technology partners.

The first phase of the London Prepare Series serve as the first real life practice events for not just athletes, but also the technology team, as well as the media, and the venues themselves.

During the 79 days of competition, the London 2012 technology team, Atos and all the technology partners set up and took down almost 180 servers, over 1160 PCs and laptops, 190 network and security devices and more than 400 printers and copiers.

South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL), has denied reports that its President, Nicolas Leoz, asked for a knighthood in return for supporting England’s bid to host the World Cup in 2018 after reports were made by newspaper the Sunday Times.

The organisation’s spokesman, Nestor Benitez, said: “The publication in London’s [Sunday Times] is pure fantasy, as well as being sick.

“The South American Football Confederation maintained and confirmed at all times that its votes [during the 2018 World Cup bid process] were for Spain [and Portugal] and for no other country.”

The suggestion came as another blow to the image of the much maligned world soccer governing body, FIFA, after Leoz had claimed that Prince William had invited him to his wedding to Kate Middleton. The Paraguayan maintains this claim and say he had turned down the offer because the event clashed with CONMEBOL’s bi-annual congress.

Prince William’s spokesman Paddy Harverson had claimed last week that no invitations to the wedding had been issued to anyone from FIFA.

Golf New South Wales has announced Andrew Tharle from Canberra as its new Board Member.

Andrew has been a member of Royal Canberra Golf Club for 26 years. During that time he served on the Board and as Vice-Captain. He also spent a number of years on the Finance and Match Committees. This was a critical period for the Club as it was rebuilding its clubhouse and building an additional nine holes.

Andrew is passionate about junior and regional golf development. He said: “I believe juniors and regional golf is extremely important to the growth of golf.” 

He has spent twenty years in public service in a range of management and executive positions with a focus on financial management. He is currently the Head of the Finance and Commercial Services area at the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. This position requires him to show leadership and he is required to set longer term goals. He has also been a member of the Australian Society of CPA’s for almost twenty years.

Three nominations were received for the three vacancies for the positions of Director of Golf NSW. As no further nominations were received, cheap all three applicants were elected unopposed. Andrew and both re-elected Directors Sue Fabian and Jean Moran will serve for a term of two (2) years.

The Golf NSW Board thanked retiring Director and Chairman of Finance John Waanders for his role on the Board and awarded him with a Life Membership. John has been a stalwart of golf in the Newcastle Region, salve serving in numerous roles. He has been involved with the state body for over a decade, abortion served as a Board and Council Member on the Men’s Association before being elected to the Board of Golf NSW in 2010. We are all indebted to John for his contribution to golf in this State.

The nine Directors who form the 2013-2014 Golf NSW Board are Chris Allen (Pennant Hills), Sue Fabian (Pennant Hills), Frank Gal (Richmond), Alan Harrison (Federal), Jean Moran (Shelly Beach), Lynne Ritchie (Lithgow), John Robinson (Elanora & The Australian), Andrew Tharle (Royal Canberra) and Darrell Watts (Murwillumbah).