Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev believes the people of Azerbaijan have shown major support for Baku’s 2020 bid and that Azerbaijan can hold any international sporting event.

He said, “holding the World and European Championships has been our good tradition and all these major competitions are held at high level. Taking into account this factor and the successful development of our country as a whole, Azerbaijan has appealed to hold the Olympic Games in Baku in 2020. This appeal is being considered.”

He added that Baku has all opportunities to hold the Olympic Games. “We have excellent infrastructure opportunities. People express great support for holding the Olympic Games in Azerbaijan. This is confirmed by the polls conducted by international agencies. About 95 per cent of citizens support the holding of the Olympic Games in Azerbaijan.”

The President added, “some major sports facilities are under construction, others have been already constructed. This issue has been already on the agenda. We have excellent athletes, sports achievements.”

He said security measures are ensured at a very high level in Azerbaijan. “The stability and socio-political calmness in the country are an important factor to hold the Olympic Games. In short, we are fully prepared for the Olympic Games in Baku. I can say that our desire demonstrates the country’s strength.”

The Rio 2016 Organizing Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games has selected U.S.-based Hanse Golf Course Design to design the golf course in Rio de Janeiro for the Olympic Games in 2016, when golf returns after an absence of 112 years.

Hanse Golf Course Design was selected from eight finalists as the candidate that most aptly met the selection criteria that were issued by Rio 2016. The proposal was cited for its design characteristics, including accentuation of the natural dune formations and retention of the natural contours of the land.

“I’m excited that the selection panel felt that our efforts were the ones that best matched the criteria set by organizers,” said company founder and president Gil Hanse.

The design effectively addresses the planning of temporary overlay structures and internal flow systems for the venue and contains a strong legacy component with the prioritising of a golf academy as an essential tool for the development of golf in Brazil. The design also considers the location of permanent buildings and the experience of players and spectators.

Hanse, 48, boasts a portfolio of internationally renowned golf courses recognised by elite and amateur golfers alike. Hanse Golf Course Design has teamed up with LPGA and World Golf Hall of Fame member, Amy Alcott, for the project. Alcott amassed 29 professional victories on the LPGA Tour including five major championship victories.

Hanse said he will relocate to Rio while the golf course is under construction.

“I think that was something that resonating with the committee is that — I’m not a big fan of poker terms, but we were all in,” Hanse said. “This really was important to us. I think that showed the commitment and the resolve that we have.

“I’m excited to find out and explore more. Thankfully golf courses have been built in Brazil so there’s a wealth of knowledge there. And I think in the discussions going forward with the designs, I mean, I’d be thrilled if the other finalists are willing, to sit and talk; what did they see. I don’t know that we had all the answers. We had answers that were good enough for the committee to be committed to understand that we were a good fit for them.”

Hanse, Alcott and their team will work closely with environmental and sustainability engineering firms in the final design process and advocate the use of native vegetation and a minimum of land movement.

“As it marks the return of golf to the Olympic Games after over a century of absence, this course represents the beginning of a new chapter in the history of the sport. It will enable Rio to host important events in the international calendar and it will be an example of sustainability and preservation of an environmentally protected area,” said the President of Rio 2016, Carlos Arthur Nuzman.

“This course will be an excellent facility for the practice and development of golf and will inspire millions of youth across Brazil and the globe. We look forward to welcoming the athletes and spectators to the course in 2016.”

Peter Dawson, President of the International Golf Federation, said, “The IGF would like to thank all of the architects who worked so hard on their bids and whose presentations demonstrated great vision. The selection process adopted by Rio 2016 was extremely thorough and reflected the importance of the project. I am delighted Hanse Golf Course Design has been appointed to design the Olympic golf course which promises to provide an outstanding venue for the Games and a tremendous legacy for our sport in Brazil.”

Hanse Golf Course Design tackled the challenge of designing a course for use by both elite and amateur athletes; one of the main legacy objectives. It addressed the environmental sustainability directives for the Games and efficiently conformed to the building restrictions on the land. Hanse Golf Course Design also effectively integrated native vegetation to the design, reducing the areas where frequent maintenance will be required.

Hanse said construction on the course, which will include features similar to Royal Melbourne, is expected to begin in October and end by mid-2014. Tests events are expected in 2015.

The Olympic course will host a 72-hole stroke-play event for men and women with 60 players in each field. The course will be built at the Reserva de Marapendi in Barra, about 3 miles from the athletes’ village and 4.3 miles from the main press center and the international broadcast center.

“We are going to have to try to figure out how we spread the play over two weeks; that we don’t have a concentration of divots, ballmarks, etc.; that we are able to create enough variety and flexibility in the design of the course that we have two compelling competitions,” Hanse said of building a course for two competitions. “At the end of the day, if it felt like they were on two different golf courses, that would be really cool.

“I think that would be something that you would see — it’s no secret my favorite golf course in the world is the Old Course. And if you contested the ladies Open Championship and the men’s Open Championship in back-to-back weeks over the Old Course, you would have two very different stories and two very different outcomes. And if we can somehow come even close to scratching the surface of the Old Course in what we do, then I think that will be successful.”

The designers made their final presentations to organizers last month and the winner was chosen by a selection committee comprised of Nuzman, Dawson and other local Olympic representatives.

clinic helvetica, order sans-serif;”>Snooker’s governing body, the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association has introduced a hotline so that professional snooker players can report incidents of match fixing.

The players will attend a meeting in Germany where the European Tour Championship is taking place. The meeting will inform players how they can report any suspicious activity or approaches in relation to match fixing.

The initiative will be introduced after the three times World Champion John Higgins found himself embroiled in a match fixing allegation.

Speaking at a press conference the WPSBA disciplinary chief David Douglas said, “It is a hotline and email service for the players that is anonymous or otherwise.”

“The players can use it to report suspicious activities or to inquire about information about the rules and regulations,” added Douglas.

The disciplinary chief believes that the new measures will help tackle corruption within the sport and encourage players not to get involved in illegal dealings.

“It is a case of the WPBSA being pro-active and making sure we are not arrogant to think that corruption is not a part, or could not be a part, of the sport,” said Douglas.

The WPSBA integrity unit will also monitor and pool information into a data base which they will share with legal betting organisations. The snooker governing body hopes that this will allow the betting industry and the WPSBA to notice any unusual betting practices.

The Mid-American Conference has signed a 10-year extension with ESPN through the 2026-27 academic year.

It is the largest and most extensive agreement in the 68-year history of the conference. It also adds provisions to the remaining three years of the existing agreement.

“This is a historic day for the Mid-American Conference, view ” said MAC Commissioner Jon Steinbrecher. “ESPN and the MAC have a long history together and were visionary in embracing mid-week football which continues to be a significant presence on the ESPN college football calendar.  The length of this partnership brings long term stability for the Conference well into the next decade.”

Tessa Jowell, shadow minister for the London 2012 Olympics, has lobbied Adidas to change the conditions for its workers following a damning report by War on Want claiming some of their employees are paid just 74p a day.

The Olympics sponsor paid workers in sweatshops a measly 9p per hour with ciculating reports of physical and verbal abuse by managers according to the anti-poverty charity.

The report ‘Race to the Bottom’, stipulates similar abuse in Nike and Puma factories, where workers have to perform mandatory overtime and are beaten if they refuse extra hours, breaching Bangladeshi labour law.

As Adidas announced record profits for 2011 on Wednesday, rising by 18%, the shadow olympics minister told The Huffington Post UK they must change “practices” for workers in “intolerable conditions.”

“The power of the Summer Olympic Games is that every four years, a bright light is shone on areas of exploitation and inhumanity that calls for urgent action,” she said.

“I welcome Adidas’ positive response to investigate the findings of War on Want’s report, but of course their commitment must extend to changed practices for these people working in intolerable conditions.”

Chief executive of Adidas Herbert Hainer is adamant 2012 could be the sportswear maker’s best year yet.

“We begin 2012 fully energised and fully prepared for another bright year for our group. There is always great buzz and excitement around major sports events, and they don’t come bigger than the London 2012 Olympic Games and the UEFA EURO 2012,” he said.

But Greg Muttitt, campaigns and policy director at the British anti-poverty charity War on Want, accused them of using “slave labour”, saying: “Adidas aims to boost market share and profits through its sponsorship as the official sportswear partner for the London Olympics.

“But its factory employees’ wages and conditions in Bangladesh remain at rock bottom. Investors reading Adidas’ results today should also look at their 74p a day bottom line, and demand an end to wage slavery by the company.”

A Locog spokesperson told The Huffington Post UK: “None of the factories featured in the War on Want report are responsible for producing anything to do with the London 2012 Games. All the Adidas London 2012 productions sites are publically available on their website.”

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by Ismail Uddin

Die deutsche Bewerbung um die Europameisterschaft 2018 wird immer konkreter. Am Rande der Deutschen Hallen-Meisterschaften in Karlsruhe gab DLV-Präsident Dr. Clemens Prokop am Samstag bekannt, discount dass bereits die Organisations-GmbH gegründet wurde. Sie wird den Namen „BEM 2018“ tragen.

Dr. Clemens Prokop rechnet im Rennen um die Titelkämpfe mit Rom (Italien) und Paris (Frankreich) als Mitbewerber: „Wir sind in der Startphase für diese Bewerbung. Es wird eine Herausforderung, buy aber wir sind optimistisch, dass wir die EM im ersten Anlauf erhalten.“ Die Entscheidung soll im Herbst 2013 fallen.

Eine neuerliche Bewerbung startet der Deutsche Leichtathletik-Verband (DLV) um die Austragung einer Team-Europameisterschaft in Braunschweig für das Jahr 2014. „Ziel ist es, dort nicht nur eine sportliche Veranstaltung zu präsentieren, sondern ein europäisches Fest zu begehen“, sagte Dr. Clemens Prokop.

A note passed between a Spanish and Qatari Fifa member saying “we’ve won” indicates the country’s respective bidding teams for World Cup 2018 and 2022 will escape action over allegations of collusion, rather than they have won the hosting rights.