A set of Giant Olympic Rings have been revealed at Heathrow, the Host Airport of the Games, to help provide a spectacular visual welcome to athletes and visitors during London 2012.

The aluminium Rings, which measure 12 metres in width, have been installed in Terminal 5 International Arrivals and will be seen by at least two million passengers travelling through Heathrow.

They were officially launched at a special event today attended by Olympian Mark Foster, with entertainment provided by the Band of the Irish Guards.

Mark Foster said: “I know first-hand the nervous excitement that every athlete feels when they arrive for the Olympic Games. The atmosphere is electric and often the airport is the first time we see fans and really feel the special buzz of the weeks to come.

“The Rings will create a huge sense of excitement and be a great part of the welcome for everyone travelling though the Terminal.”

The Olympic Rings are one of the world’s most recognisable logos, representing the union of the five continents and the meeting of athletes from throughout the world at the Olympic Games.

Giant Olympic Rings are being installed at iconic sites across the United Kingdom to excite and inspire people ahead of the Games, with sets unveiled at Edinburgh and Newcastle last week.

Sports Illustrated journalist Grant Wahl has announced his intention to stand for the presidency of the world’s soccer governing body FIFA against current occupant Sepp Blatter, and is hoping one of world football’s 208 national associations will give him a chance.

Wahl has five weeks to secure the one nomination he needs to get on the ballot for the FIFA congress in Zurich from May 31 to June 1, with Blatter a the only known candidate, although Asian Football Confederation (AFC) president Mohammad Bin Hammam is also expected to challenge.

But Wahl said he believes an outsider is needed to press the case for change in how the organisation operates, telling Reuters: “A lot of it is about sending a message to FIFA on behalf of world soccer fans – that people want to see change.

“The reaction has been extremely positive from world soccer fans. It has been very global, which doesn’t totally surprise – I travel a lot and I know there is a lot of dissatisfaction with FIFA.

“I haven’t had any contact with federations yet – I’ve been dealing with a lot of response on social media and in newspapers, on radio and on television.

“Now it’s about trying to see if it is possible to find a federation to nominate [me] before the April 1 deadline – there are a lot of federations out there but obviously it is a huge long shot.”

Wahl has spoken to one leading official, his compatriot Chuck Blazer, the American FIFA executive committee member, adding: “He’s (Blazer) been great about it – he thought it was creative, that’s cool. I think he has a sense of humour about what I am doing – even though there is a serious element about it. Whether other [executive committee] members have that sense of humour, I don’t know.”

Wahl was highly critical in print over the selection of Russia and Qatar as hosts for the 2018 and 2022 World Cup finals, writing: “For an outfit that likes to thump its chest and claim that it is not corrupt (Trust us, says FIFA president Sepp Blatter), having two oil-wealthy winners is the clearest message possible that FIFA needs a complete overhaul in its leadership and organisation.”

Wahl hopes he will be able to confront Blatter in a debate on home turf at the congress of the North, Central American and Caribbean confederations (CONCACAF) on May 3 in Miami.

“Maybe if I do get nominated, then at the CONCACAF congress in Miami maybe we can have a debate,” Wahl continued.

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has been given the green light by the BBC Trust to launch smartphone applications – extending its reach of its news and sport service.

The Sports Industry Awards (SPIAs) will return for a second edition in 2014 following the huge success and wide acclaim achieved by this year’s inaugural event, price organisers Sport360° announced on Tuesday.

Recognising achievements on both a professional and community level, unhealthy the SPIAs seek to reward outstanding events, prostate organisations, brands, sponsors and facilities that have contributed to making the Middle East the world’s leading international sports hub.

The 2013 awards attracted 154 entries and the red carpet gala dinner, hosted on March 27 at the One and Only Royal Mirage, was attended by 446 sports industry figures.

The enormous success of the event – the first of its kind in the Middle East – led to widespread demand for a second edition, and Sport360° is delighted to announce the launch of SPIAs 2014.

Two categories have been added to the 2014 edition – Best Use of Social Media in Sport and Best Sports CSR Initiative – while the Best Entertainment Venue category has been removed.

Therefore, next year’s event will boast 13 categories in total, of which 12 will be open to submission. The deadline for applications is January 30, 2014, with only events and activities taking place from December 1, 2012, until November 30, 2013, available for consideration.

The Middle East has become synonymous with sport, attracting the best athletes from around the world who descend on the region to take advantage of the incredible facilities on offer.

This remarkable success story has, like all top sports, been built on teamwork and business acumen. Core strategies, provided by the business of sport, have ensured the Middle East has stayed ahead of the game and set new standards that have become the envy of the international sporting arena.

“Our aim for the inaugural SPIAs was to bring together and celebrate the people and organisations that have made the Middle East a magnet for world-class sport, and we certainly feel that was achieved,” Sport360° CEO Michael Chalhoub said.

“The success of the SPIAs and the overwhelming response we received proves what a significant role the Middle East plays in global sport and the 2014 edition promises to be even bigger and better.”

Chalhoub added: “The response from the UAE this year was incredible, but next year we will strive to reach further afield to incorporate the wider region.

“Aside from this, we have also added two new categories, introduced an ‘early bird’ entry special, and relaunched a more user friendly website through sport360.com. We are extremely excited by what the future holds for the SPIAs.”

Former Chelsea executive Stephen Pearce has joined Championship club Derby County as its new Finance Director. 

Pearce will take up his post at Pride Park Stadium on Monday 30th September 2013 after agreeing to join the Rams from Barclays Premier League side Chelsea. 

Prior to joining Chelsea in 2006 as Head of Statutory Reporting, discount Pearce worked for KPMG AUDIT PLC between 2002 and 2006. 

Pearce commented about his new role: “I am delighted to join Derby County and I look forward to working with Sam Rush, clinic John Vicars (Chief Operating Officer) and Lisa Biesty (Commercial Director) on the Executive Team.

“Derby County has an excellent reputation within the game and I am looking forward to experiencing it first-hand.

“On a personal note this is a great opportunity for myself and I can’t wait to get started and lead the finance team at Pride Park Stadium.” 

President & Chief Executive Sam Rush added: “I have looked to strengthen the Executive Team in recent months and we’re delighted to welcome Stephen to Derby County.

“We’re delighted to recruit someone of his calibre and he is an extremely welcome addition to the team.

“We look forward to him starting his new role in a few weeks and we wish Stephen a long and successful career here at Derby County.”

The German football Super Cup, the annual match between league champion and cup winner, could be played in China as early as 2013.

This year’s Super Cup between Bundesliga champion and German Cup winner Borussia Dortmund and cup runner-up Bayern Munich on August 12 will be broadcast in more than 180 countries.

The increasing interest in the competition has led the German Football League (DFL) to consider moving the annual game to China.

DFL board members and President Reinhard Raubal will discuss the possible move during their next meeting in early September.

League Chair, Heribert Bruchhagen said: “It is difficult to estimate the financial gain of such a move. The DFL has been able to increase the Bundesliga’s foreign marketing revenue to a respectable €72M (us $89.1M). It would be a mistake to compare the Bundesliga with the Premier League in this regard.”

The EPL earns €300M (us $371.3M) from international media rights deals, that is €228M (us $282.2M) more than the Bundesliga. {jcomments on}

The London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Parlaympic Games (LOCOG) has unveiled today of the medical facilities available to athletes.

The main polyclinic for competitors will be based in the Athletes’ Village and will be open 24 hours a day.

Inujuries such as strains and sprains, minor illness such as the common cold and superficial trauma such as wounds and grazes are the most common cases expected at the clinic.

Core services, including physiotherapy, dentistry, optometry, podiatry, and an in-house pharmacy, will be delivered by 10 LOCOG staff, 500 Games Makes and 80 on-call specialists.

The polyclinic’s emergency department will be open 24 hours a day and will provide out-of-hours emergency services from 11pm-7am.

The equipment in the clinic is among some of the most sophisticated available in the country, and includes two MRI scanners, and a wireless, digital x-ray system.

LOCOG chairman Seb Coe said: “We have always put athletes’ needs at the heart of the Games. When they are preparing for the most important moment in their sporting careers, it’s vital they are in peak condition with all the support they need.
“We aim to give that medical support to help them deliver their best performance. Our sponsors and our medical team who are experts in their field will pay a vital role in achieving this and I thank them for their ongoing support.”

LOCOG director of sport Debbie Jevans added: “Even the most minor ailment can have serious implications upon an elite athlete’s performance. We have worked hard to equip the polyclinic to respond quickly and provide athletes with the treatment they require onsite.

“As such we offer a broad range of core services including sport medicine, physiotherapy, state of the art imaging, emergency and dental care supported by a wide variety of other specialists such as orthopaedic surgeons, cardiologists and neurologists.”

The polyclinic is provided in conjunction with LOCOG’s official healthcare partner, and worldwide sponsor of the London 2012 Olympic Games, GE.

CEO of GE Healthcare, John Dineen, commented: “We are delighted to be providing a broad range of our latest healthcare technology for the London 2012 Polyclinic. In line with GE’s ‘healthymagination’ vision and its commitment to sports medicine, these technologies will provide insight into athlete health, as well as offering wider benefits for the general public.

The use of technologies that help monitor the cardiovascular and musculoskeletal health of Olympic athletes will be used before, during and after the London 2012 Games.”

After the Games the clinic will be taken over by the NHS and re-opened as a healthcare facility for the new community coming to live in East Village and residents of Newham and neighbouring boroughs.

Polyclinic services will also be offered at the Olympic and Paralympic Rowing Village in Egham, Surrey and the Olympic and Paralympic Sailing Village in Portland.

In an apparent bid to to tackle corruption in cricket during the World Cup this month, the International Cricket Council (ICC) have banned players and officials alike from using social networking site Twitter.

The real-time information network is seemingly growing less and less popular with sporting bodies, with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Football Association (FA) both releasing guidelines for usage from the world’s sporting icons.

The move by the ICC however, is reportedly for differing reasons according to the Sydney Morning Herald, who claim that the ban has been introduced following Australian team manager Steve Bernard’s tweets which attracted more than 1,100 followers in the past six months, including during Ashes and the subsequent ODI series

The decision of ICC’s Anti-Corruption and Security Unit was intended to restrain the players and officials from any possible approach by people with links to illegal betting during World Cup matches.

The Sydney Morning Herald quoted ICC spokesman James Fitzgerald as saying: “When it comes to issues of corruption we prefer to err on the side of caution. We don’t want to spoil anyone’s fun but there is a chance that sensitive information could be passed on during matches in this way, even inadvertently, and we just feel that team managers’ phones should be kept for operational purposes only.”

“This recommendation is not confined to the Australia team manager but all teams in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 and is certainly not a reaction to anything the Australia team manager has said or done in the past. It’s merely a precaution and is not something we are overly worried about at this stage,” he added.