The International Ski Federation (FIS) have announced that live broadcasts of the 2015 FIS Freestyle and Snowboard World Championships will be streamed on YouTube.

The Championships, cialis which will take place in Kreischberg, Austria from 15 – 25 January 2015, mark the first time ever that fans of the two disciplines will be provided with online live coverage free-of-charge. The programing will encompass all 24 FIS Freestyle and Snowboard World Championships Finals in full length. 

Marcel Looze, FIS Marketing Manager, said: “With athletes from 45 nations competing, the Snowboard and Freestyle Skiing events hold high appeal in the global skiing community – especially amongst a young fan base. Benefitting from Infront’s production capabilities and digital media expertise, we have developed a strong concept to leverage the potential of our existing YouTube channels and make this FIS World Championship available to fans all around the world.”

British Cycling has appointed Adrian Lord as its first infrastructure expert to act as a consultant on how to design cycle friendly cities, discount the sports governing body announced today.

Lord, a transport consultant specialising in cycle infrastructure design and promotional strategies, will be an adviser to British Cycling on cycle-proofing road layouts, junctions and route design.   

One of British Cycling’s key ambitions is to get the government to put cycling at the heart of its transport policy. Adrian Lord’s appointment will give British Cycling someone with the authority and experience to make meaningful and informed contributions to policy development on how Britain can cycle-proof its road infrastructure.    

British Cycling’s Director of Policy and Legal Affairs, Martin Gibbs, said: “The fact that British Cycling has brought its own infrastructure expert on board is a sign of how seriously we’re taking the government’s cycling ambitions. We recognise that the key to transforming our villages, towns and cities into cycle-friendly environments – and in turn getting millions more people on bikes – is totally about getting it right on infrastructure. I look forward to working closely with Adrian over the coming months.” 

Commenting on his appointment, Adrian Lord, said: “I’m really pleased to be working with British Cycling and sharing my expertise on cycling infrastructure. I want to help encourage local authorities and planners to make the right decisions on how to design their roads and junctions with cyclists in mind.

“Cycle proofing isn’t just about making the roads safer for cyclists, it’s about creating routes that are convenient for cycling with an appropriate level of segregation on links and of priority at junctions. 

A well designed route is intuitive – drivers will automatically adjust their speed, all users will know when to give way and when they have priority. Properly designing towns and cities for cyclists would have an immeasurable impact on everyone in the country creating more pleasant and sustainable places to live.”

Adrian has been a transport consultant for over 18 years and has headed up projects for Cycling England and the Department for Transport. Adrian has significant experience in designing cycle-friendly infrastructure and has contributed to the design of cycle schemes across the UK including projects on the London Cycle Network and the National Cycle Network.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has increased a dope-related ban on six Indian athletes from one year to two years.

CAS posted on its website that it had upheld an appeal by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) for stricter punishment. The original year-long ban was decided by Indian authorities.

Asian Games gold medalist Ashwini Akkunji, abortion and team-mates Mandeep Kaur, Sini Jose, Jauna Murmu, Tiana Mary and Priyanka Panwar, tested positive for banned steroids in June 2011.

The CAS statement said the cases were referred to a sole arbitrator, Mark Hovell , who upheld the appeal by the IAAF for two-year bans.

“Mandeep Kaur, Jauna Murmu, Ashwini, Panwar, Mary Thomas and Jose are all declared ineligible for a period of two years starting from the date of the award [17 July 2012],” the statement said.

The ruling came with a provision to reduce the period of suspension already served, meaning the athletes will be eligible for competition from June next year.{jcomments on}

Football’s governing body FIFA has promoted Delia Fischer as the new Head of Media.

Fischer, who joined FIFA in 2002, will replace the outgoing Pekka Odriozola who left after eight years with FIFA to pursue a new challenge. He will leave the organisation on 6 September 2013.

“On behalf of FIFA, I would like to thank Pekka for the huge contribution he has provided during his time with football’s world governing body. His expertise, professionalism and commitment have been outstanding. We wish him the very best for the future”, commented FIFA’s Director of Communications and Public Affairs Walter De Gregorio.

The Lake Tahoe Winter Games Exploratory Committee (LTWGEC) announced additional members of its Board of Directors today after convening its inaugural meeting in Olympic Valley, sale California last Friday.

Members of the board unanimously supported that the organization turn its attention to the next available (when the United States Olympics Committee (USOC) decides to bid) Winter Olympic games while simultaneously focusing its efforts on attracting world class sporting events to the region in preparation for a potential bid.

The board of the LTWGEC is comprised of Nevadans and Californians who have come together to create a bi-state effort focused on creating the environment for a potential Olympic bid.

The LTWGEC’s actions came on the heels of the announcement by the USOC that it would not be bidding on the 2022 Winter Olympics. The USOC said that it would instead make a decision in the Fall regarding mounting an American bid for either the Summer 2024 or Winter 2026 Olympics.

“The LTWGEC strongly supports and endorses the USOC’s decision to delay the U.S. bid for future Olympic Games,” said Andy Wirth, CEO of Squaw/Alpine and acting chair of the board of directors for the LTWGEC. “We feel the decision puts Lake Tahoe in a much stronger position to be the host of the next Winter Olympic Games in North America, whenever that is.”

Last Friday, the LTWGEC held its inaugural meeting with its new board of directors.

“We are very proud to have such an esteemed group of Californians and Nevadans coming together to create a truly bi-state effort here in our region,” said Wirth. “Our region – from Sacramento to Lake Tahoe to Reno – has the right combination of venues and physical splendor to make it one the world’s great destinations for Winter sports and this committee is dedicating itself to that ideal.”

In the coming weeks, the LTWGEC will make a series of announcements about the committee’s goals, its dedication to the region’s glorious physical environment, its commitment to working with all the local communities in the area and additional board members.

“Stay tuned as we’re just getting started but this is an important first step,” Wirth continued. “We’re going to work with our neighbors, our community members, and create something truly special for the region.”

A new electric train has been unveiled at Russia’s Black Sea resort city of Sochi transporting passengers to the sports facilities during the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics and the Paralympics.

According to the state-owned Russian Railways (RZD), the company introduced the five-car train “Lastochka”, or dubbed “Swallow” by the RZD Wednesday, from Germany’s Siemens AG as a response to the possible passenger traffic jam during the event.

The train, which has a carrying capacity of 800 passengers and a maximum speed of 160 kmph, is equipped with a Russian-designed safety control system KLUB-U, reported Xinhua.

The RZD has ordered a total of 54 Lastochka trains from the Germans, and the first batch of 38 trains is being supplied to Russia.

So far, the train is still under testing. Some of the Lastochka trains will also be used in Kazan next year for the World Student Games.

For the 2014 games, four railway stations are also being built by the RZD. All the constructions are expected to be completed in 2012.

In early May, prime minister Vladimir Putin said that the preparations for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi are “right on course as scheduled”.

Calls to replace president of the Football Federation of Ukraine (FFU), Hrigory Surkis, have been dropped by officials of the governing body who confirmed the news to UEFA on Wednesday 2 January.

The confirmation comes after UEFA had given Ukraine until this Friday to resolve the situation after receiving documents showing that some state and regional authorities were allegedly putting pressure on FFU officials. Soccer’s European governing body had stated that Ukraine could be suspended from international football, and its co-hosting rights with Poland for Euro 2012 could be withdrawn, if immediate actions are not taken to curtail political interference in the running of the Football Federation of Ukraine (FFU).

Serhiy Storozhenko, a senior FFU official who had led the rebellion against Surkis, told Reuters: “A decision has been made to withdraw the demands”. A letter signed by 11 members of the FFU’s executive committee stated: “We are withdrawing the written demands…for the holding of an emergency congress and we will not demand a replacement of the management of the FFU before the end of Euro 2012 and before the end of the term of the FFU’s president.”

President of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovich told the Polish media: “I assure you that the state authorities are not mounting political pressure on the FFU. In the past year, we have caught up on delays in preparations for the Championship and I do not want Ukraine to be deprived of the right to organise Euro 2012.”

He added: “We can resolve the conflict in the FFU by postponing discussions on its internal problems until next year.”