Tthe International Olympic Committee (IOC) has announced that figure skater and Olympic champion Yuna Kim from the Republic of Korea is the latest Winter Youth Olympic Games Ambassador.

Twenty-one-year-old Kim’s appointment follows the announcement of her fellow Winter Youth Olympic Games Ambassadors Lindsey Vonn and Benjamin Raich, medic who will play a key part in supporting the inaugural Winter Youth Olympic Games in Innsbruck.

The role of the Ambassadors for the Innsbruck 2012 Youth Olympic Games is to inspire and mentor the athletes competing at the Games while encouraging young people from all over the world to become more active in sport.

Kim said: “I am delighted and honoured to be a Winter Youth Olympic Games Ambassador. The Youth Olympic Games are an exceptional event and I am excited to be part of the first ever winter edition. Having competed as an athlete since a very young age, I can relate to the participants of Innsbruck 2012 and I hope I can share my knowledge, passion and experience to motivate them to reach their potential.”

IOC President Jacques Rogge said: “To have such a dedicated, gifted and internationally renowned athlete to mentor the athletes going to Innsbruck 2012 is fantastic news. Yuna is an outstanding Olympic champion, setting a new world record in winning her gold medal in Vancouver last year. She was excellent in her role as PyeongChang 2018 Athlete Ambassador, and I am sure that as a Youth Olympic Games Ambassador she will inspire young people to compete in winter sports.”

Scheduled to take place from 13 to 22 January 2012, the Innsbruck Winter Youth Olympic Games will attract over 1,000 top athletes between the ages of 15 and 18 from 65 countries. The athletes will compete in the same seven sports as those on the programme of the Olympic Winter Games in Sochi in 2014, but a number of the 63 events will feature for the first time at an Olympic event. These include ski halfpipe, snowboard slopestyle and women’s ski jumping.

In addition to mixed gender events, there will also be mixed National Olympic Committee competitions.

The athletes will also participate in a Culture and Education Programme (CEP) featuring fun and engaging activities designed to provide guidance on a wide range of topics, including the Olympic values, the benefits of leading a healthy lifestyle, and the prevention of sports injuries, among others.

UK Athletics have announced that London are considering hosting the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) World Athletics Championships if they are awarded the 2017 World Athletics Championships later this year.

London are currently locked in a two-horse race with Doha for the prestigious event with the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) set to decide on where the 2017 competition is staged at their Council meeting in Monte Carlo on November 11.

It has long been suggested that London was looking to host the IPC Championships in 2017 if awarded the able-bodied Championships as Britain has delivered numerous successful world class disability events in recent years and UK Athletics chairman Warner who is also chairman of the IPC Athletics Sport Technical Committee (STC), confirmed that UK Athletics have made an approach to the IPC about hosting both events together.

Warner said: “UK Athletics have approached the IPC and we told them that if we are awarded the 2017 IAAF World Athletics Championships, we would also like to host the 2017 IPC World Athletics Championships in London. We received a letter back for the IPC President Sir Philip Craven that was very supportive of our plan of hosting the two events back-to-back which we were delighted to receive.

“We haven’t yet considered any of the logistics such as whether the IPC event will be in the same stadium as the IAAF event but the competition is six years away so that is not a major issue at present. The important thing with the IPC Championships is that we have a full stadium and a well-supported event and we are very confident that would happen in London which is a city full of passionate athletics fans and passionate Paralympic sport fans.”

Doha revealed yesterday that have approached the IPC about hosting the idea of hosting the event immediately afterward the IAAF event but the idea itself was actually first suggested by Warner shortly after he was appointed as the IPC Athletics STC chairman in May.

Warner also hinted towards the idea in January this year when he attended the 2011 IPC World Athletics Championships in Christchurch.

Both the IAAF and IPC are very supportive of the idea of hosting their blue-ribbon events back-to-back after the two signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) earlier this this year to further develop the sport of athletics both for able-bodied and disabled athletes.

The MoU – which was signed by IPC President Sir Philip and IAAF President Lamine Diack – included a clause that says: “The IAAF invite prospective Organising Committees to bid to host the IPC Athletics World Championships in conjunction with the IAAF World Championships.”

Spanish La Liga side Real Mallorca has appealed against Europe’s football governing body, UEFA, decision to ban them from next season’s Europa League competition because of their financial situation.

In addition to the official appeal, Mallorca has also issued a statement about its intent to fight, and defeat the ban.

The statement says the decision threatens to deprive “the club of a series of revenue in different concepts such as ticketing, sponsorship and income from the competition.

“Ethically and legally, RCD Mallorca believes reason is on their side and [the club] will not relent in the effort to show that he has earned the right to challenge the Europa League.”

New manager Michael Laudrup is confident the decision can be overturned. He said: “I’m optimistic – I know Platini [michel, president of UEFA] and I know he’s fair.

“The committee [of control and discipline] took the decision, but we’ll see what happens. There has been no final word.”

A date for the appeal hearing has yet to be confirmed.

Football Federation Australia (FFA) has announced they have become a full member to the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) following an AFF Extraordinary Congress in Dili, viagra ed Timor Leste.

FFA’s admission, illness which was decided following a unanimous vote by the 11 Member Associations of AFF, medicine will enable Australian National Teams to participate in AFF competitions and ensure Australia enjoys full political membership of the regional body.

“Football Federation Australia is honoured to be admitted to the ASEAN Football Federation. We look forward to being an active member, and to contributing to the ongoing development and success of football in our region”, said FFA General Secretary and CEO David Gallop.

The President of the AFF, His Royal Highness Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah welcomed AFF’s newest member: “Timor Leste was the last member of AFF. It is only fitting we are all here today for this proud nation to pass the baton to Australia”, he said.

FFA Director, AFC Vice President and FIFA Executive Committee Member Moya Dodd looked to the future, saying: “Whilst this could be seen as the final piece in Australia’s integration into AFC, it is more appropriate to say this is the beginning of a mutual commitment to the advancement of football in South East Asia.”

The membership comes on the eve of an important milestone in the countdown to the AFC Asian Cup Australia 2015.

“Tomorrow will mark 500 days to go until the AFC Asian Cup comes to Australian shores. As a member of AFF, we will do our upmost to do ASEAN, and indeed all of Asia, proud”, said Gallop.

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100 Russian volunteers will be selected to work at the London 2012 games with an intention to learn the techniques of taking care of people with disabilities.

Among those who will go to Britain will be Russian citizens, who speak English fluently and can communicate freely to resolve any difficult situations and conflicts.

26 centres are supervising the selection of volunteers in Russia, who will work at first in London and then – at the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics.

Yelena Krutitskaya, Russia Director of the Volunteer Centre under the Sholokhov University, said: “We’ve selected a 6-member team to represent our centre at the Paralympic Games in London. All these are students of the faculty of foreign languages, who have been engaged in volunteer activities for more than a year now. The main thing here is the ability to work with people with disabilities, which demands special effort. Young people from all volunteer centres will undergo the selection process in a Sochi camp, and on its results they will be chosen to work in London.”

The experience of working at the Paralympic Games in London will be of great help for the work in Sochi, where a non-barrier environment will be created for people with disabilities.

“Now the future volunteers are being taught to find a positive way out of various conflicts. Our task is to teach the volunteers to work with guests. Any person coming from abroad should feel comfortable in an alien city, and volunteers should learn to create comfortable conditions for everyone. And the main thing at Paralympic Games is the ability to work with people with disabilities. Very often a person in a wheel chair needs not only help but also communication,” Krutitskaya added.

The organizers of the London 2012 Paralympic Games said that they needed 70,000 volunteers to ensure its success. According to the current quota, 6,000 out of them must be foreigners. A delegation led by the head of the volunteer system of the London 2012 Paralympic Games Andrew Newman will arrive in Sochi in early October to supervise the selection of the Russian volunteers there.

Sudan could be banned from international competition by football’s governing body FIFA after a row between the government and the country’s football association.

The government’s Sport Commission had said that current Sudan FA president Kamal Shaddad and several other candidates could not run for election this month.

The decision to bar Shaddad from running for re-election is because he has already held the position for two terms, the limit to holding an international  football job recognised by the Commission.

Under strict FIFA rules, government interference in football is strictly prohibited and has said Sudan now faces a global suspension.

A FIFA statement read: “Any election without respecting the SFA (Sudanese Football Association) statutes and/or under governmental interference will not be recognised by FIFA. IN addition, such interference may lead to sanctions such as a suspension or expulsion.”

Shaddad has said: “They decided to stop me running for re-election as President. That is against FIFA’s fundamental rules.

“FIFA says they do not approve of this situation, and the Sports Commission must reserve its decision or face suspension.”

 

British Eurosport has secured rights to show the British Cycling National Road Championships, generic | with highlights of the women’s road race and the last two hours of the men’s road race being broadcast live on Sunday 29 June, generic British Cycling confirmed today.

The championships also incorporate the British Cycling National Time Trial Championships which take place on Thursday 26 June.

A full highlights programme featuring both the men’s and women’s time trials and road races will be shown on ITV4 on Sunday 29 June and will be available in full on the British Cycling Events YouTube Channel from Wednesday 1 July.

Jonny Clay, for sale British Cycling’s cycle sport and membership director commented: “British Cycling is delighted to be working with both British Eurosport and ITV to bring live and same day highlights coverage of its national road championships to fans of British cycling.  These channels are the home of cycling on TV in this country and as such we will be seeing these prestigious championships broadcast alongside some of the biggest bike races in the world.

“The courses that await Britain’s top riders in Monmouthshire next week are challenging and fans can expect to tune in to some world class racin