In a recent event over a 100 representatives from Madrid’s leading businesses showed their support to Madrid 2020’s Olympic bid.

Leading the event was Ana Botella, Mayor of Madrid, Miguel Cardenal, Secretary of State, and Madrid 2020 President Alejandro Blanco.

Blanco said that in this long journey “we need the companies. Some of them started to work with us from the beginning without asking any question, just because they want to walk beside us all the way long and they are willing to participate in any aspect which might be needed and do their bit.”

He added, “We count with great support both from government and private institutions. Spain is a country where bad news premiums today, but we have the best companies which are leaders in their business, and we need to encourage all the positive things that this country has”, adding “we are talking not only of a project, but the project that will bring Spain together”.

Secretary of State for Sport, Miguel Cardenal, said, “We are all together in this road; sports and political authorities, entrepreneurs, and the whole of the Spanish society are willing to achieve the dream of hosting and enjoying the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Madrid”.

Madrid’s Mayor Ana Botella said that one of the strengths of the bid is “the permanent and continuous support given by the business sector. The bid is a strategic opportunity for the city, as the Games in Madrid 2020 will invigorate the industrial and commercial activity, will generate employment, attract investment, promote tourism, and boost the international image of our city”.

Madrid 2020 said that in the coming months Spain’s most prominent companies will build close links with the bid through the sponsorship program which will offer them four different ways of providing their support, allowing them to work hand in hand with the Olympic project and contribute to the creation of plans promoting and developing sport and the city.

Rail Union RMT today announced that it has secured the latest in a line of Olympics bonus payments, adiposity this time a breakthrough-deal for cleaners working on the Virgin/Alstom West Coast Cleaning Contract for VOITH industrial services.

The agreement, symptoms covering the Olympics and Paralympics period, ambulance means that all hourly paid staff will receive a bonus payment of £400. 

RMT General Secretary Bob Crow said: “This is a ground-breaking agreement as it applies to contracted-out cleaning staff who are often excluded from the best deals and it proves conclusively that when you have a fighting union on your side all grades of staff end up on the winning side. 

“RMT has prioritized the fight for a fair deal for cleaning, catering and other support staff who are working for contractors and this agreement is further proof that our organizing and campaigning strategy is delivering the goods for those groups of staff. 

“RMT is rolling out that model for other contracted workers across the transport sector who have so often been kicked from pillar to post when it comes to pay and conditions.”

Yesterday London Bus drivers union were contemplating a strike due to their lack of bonuses during the Olympics.

Euroleague Basketball have extended their broadcasting deal with Sportklub who will continue to showcase the Turkish Airlines Euroleague in the Balkans for four additional seasons through the end of this decade.

Sportklub already held the rights to broadcast Euroleague games for the 2014-15 season, its fifth season in a row as a rights-holder of the competition.

The new agreement means that Sportklub will be the home of the Euroleague in the Balkans region for years to come, making it one of the competition’s most durable long-time partners. Sportklub broadcasts in Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

It is well-known for the strength of its world-wide sports content. As part of the terms, Sportklub will broadcast not only Euroleague games, but also the weekly Euroleague magazine, One Devotion.

Mayor of London Boris Johnson has confirmed the London 2012 Olympic Games velodrome will be put forward as a venue for the 2016 UCI Track Cycling World Championships.

The already iconic ‘pringle’ velodrome will be a central part of the London 2012 legacy velopark, and a hosting of the Track Worlds in 2016 would confirm its status as one of the world’s premier cycling venues.

“I want our great capital city to play its own part in the cycling revolution that is taking place by hosting the track cycling World Championships in 2016,” said Johnson in a statement issued just after Bradley Wiggins clinched victory in the 2012 Tour de France.

“This is the best sports city in the world and the wonderful velodrome we have built in east London would be packed to the rafters for such an event.”

The London velodrome hosted a sell-out round of the UCI Track Cycling World Cup in February, which also served as the official Olympic test event prior to the Games.

Britain hosted the Track Cycling World Championships in the National Cycling Centre in Manchester in 2008, the year that Britain’s track cycling team won 12 medals at the Beijing Olympic Games.

The Track World Champs isn’t the only top-level cycling event that is being invited to come to Britain in 2016. In March it was revealed that Yorkshire had put in a formal bid to host the Grand Depart of the 2016 Tour de France.

London bus drivers are seriously contemplating industrial action over the Olympic Games with a favourable vote to strike if they don’t get a £500 bonus for working during the period.

Unite union members voted nine to one for the industrial action, advice with just 38% of members participating. The union is pressing for the bonus, prostate which would cost bus operators some £14 million for 20,000 bus staff. This comes as the city expects 800,000 more people to use the buses over the period.

The strike will allow Unite to set a date for industrial action, but it hasn’t yet. The union said it was giving the 21 bus operators a last chance to think about the overwhelming favour resulting from the ballot before they announce any possible strike dates this week. It claims that all other transport workers are getting a premium to work during the Games. According to regulation, the union has 28 days to stage a strike to keep its mandate alive. If that doesn’t happen, its members won’t be able to take action during the Games and will have to be balloted again.

Unite regional secretary Peter Kavanagh says that talks have been going on for a year. Their members only want an extra £17 per day, which will just about buy a portion of fish and chips and pint of beer at the Olympics. Bus workers want the Games to be successful, but they have run out of patience. Every transport worker in London will be given a reward in recognition of their major contribution to the historic event – except bus staff. This row could end now if the bus companies and Transport for London (TfL) have the will to offer such a small amount of money in comparison to the billions the Games is costing, he added.

The bus companies argue that they can’t afford extra payments under the strict terms of their contracts with the TfL. However, the transport authority says the operators are suppose to take care of any extra pay. It’s understood that the Acas, the conciliation service, hasn’t been contacted, but it’s one option for the bus companies and London Mayor Boris Johnson if they want to end the immediate threat of dates for industrial action. Under the 1992 Trade Union and Labour Relations Act’s terms, Unite can’t target the Olympics right away a leverage in negotiations.

TfL managing director of surface transport Leon Daniels says that he’s not surprised that 70% of the bus drivers in London didn’t submit a vote for the ballot. That’s because about 70% of local bus services won’t be affected by the Olympic Games. The bonus is another multimillion pound burden for hard-pressed taxpayers and passengers, he added. The turnout for the ballot will likely add more heat to Johnson’s fire in calling for a minimum voting threshold of 50% to be imposed on ballots for industrial action. Unite argues back that he was reelected as mayor on the same turnout last month.

Meanwhile, workers for London Overground, London Underground, Virgin Trains, Docklands Light Railways and Network Rail will be paid a between £500 and £900 Olympics bonus. It was just agreed about a week ago that Underground staff will get up to £850 each for working during the Games.

Pasadena’s American Football stadium the Rose Bowl is set to undergo a US$152 million upgrade, it has been announced.

The Rose Bowl Operating Co. successfully agreed on the plan in a vote last week, and on Monday the Pasadena City Council approved the three-year renovation on the 88-year-old stadium.

It has been reported the upgrades will create around 1,000 jobs and will increase the number of “premium seats” in the stadium from 500 to 2,500. City Council officials have said the renovations will secure the financial future of the stadium.

Councilman Steve Madison said: “Just as our forbearers 80 to 100 years ago invested enormous sums for them to make Pasadena the city it has become in the last century, so too, do we have a historic opportunity to reinvest and ensure that our kids and grandkids have the same amenities.”