The North American Soccer League’s Board of Governors have unanimously approved expansion franchises in Oklahoma City and Jacksonville, Florida.

Both franchises will begin play in the 2015 spring season. 

The NASL board received presentations from groups representing four prospective expansion cities as part of two days of meetings being held in Dallas. 

“We are delighted to be expanding to two cities that clearly have a passion for soccer, where we believe local fans will be excited to welcome our newest teams,” said NASL commissioner Bill Peterson. “We have considered expansion to cities that meet specific criteria and most importantly have strong ownership groups that will provide a long and stable future for the NASL in those markets, which we clearly have in both Jacksonville and Oklahoma City.” 

Tim McLaughlin, an Oklahoma City native, presented to the NASL Board of Governors on behalf of OKC Pro Soccer LLC, which has already secured the rights to plays its games at Taft Stadium.

“Bringing a high-level professional soccer club to Oklahoma City is going to add an exciting new sports dimension to our city and state,” said McLaughlin. “We look forward to working with the NASL to give our community a soccer team and game experience people will be talking about for many years to come.

Dick Pound, one of Olympic Movement’s most respected figures, says he was surprised by Pyeongchang’s landslide victory in the 2018 Winter Olympics and Paralympics ballot – and cautioned Tokyo about going for the Summer Games just two years later.

Pound, a former International Olympic Committee (IOC) vice-president and head of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), was scrutineer at the vote and fully expected the race to go beyond one single stage.

He said: “I would not have been at all surprised if it had gone to the second round, but anyone watching the campaign would know there was only one city capable of winning on the first ballot. 

“As soon as you hear it’s a first-round win you are just figuring what the margin is.”

Pound refuted claims that Pyeongchang, which got more votes than the other two contenders combined, only won because they had so narrowly failed twice before.

“Pyeongchang is not twice as good as the others but you’re not throwing the Games away to a place that can’t do it,” he said. 

“They stole a bit from Rio’s [2016] bid in terms of the geographical location and the fact that there had been so many bids from Europe and the Americas. 

“They played their cards very well. We seem to be in a time when sports organisation are willing to take risks and go to new destinations. If you’re going to be a worldwide franchise, you have to take on the obligation of moving around the world. 

“Sometimes that’s risky but I don’t think in this case it is.”

Pound said Pyeongchang’s gain could be Tokyo’s loss for 2020. 

He said: “They’ll have to look at it because the two are very close. Statistically it probably doesn’t help Tokyo having something so close but the IOC is a strange organisation. 

“It kind of depends who ends up being in it.”

Paris and Annecy have now lost out for 2012 and 2018 respectively but Pound said Annecy never really stood a chance because of lack of national unity.

“You learn more from your losses. This was one where they didn’t have their act together from start. It’s a national effort – you can’t do it any more with just a city bidding,” he added.

Tsunekazu Takeda, President of the Japanese Olympic Committee, admitted Pyeongchang’s victory raised questions about Tokyo’s position with the deadline for prospective 2020 candidates less than two months away.

“It hasn’t been decided yet,” he said. 

Japan’s IOC member Shun-ichiro Okano said Pyeongchang’s victory was totally justified. 

Okano said: “There was obviously some sympathy but I’m very happy for them as one of their neighbours.”

“I’m not a winter sports man, I’m a football man but we have very good relations with Korea.”

The international federations of baseball and softball are planning to discuss a possible joint proposal to get their sports back onto the Olympic programme for 2020.

A joint statement was issued by both parties revealing that they have been analysing potential savings that could come from sharing an Olympic venue and housing at the Olympic Village in 2020, factors which they believe would considerably boost their chances of winning back their places in the Games.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) had previously dropped both sports for London at its Session in Singapore in 2005.

Having attempted to regain their status as an Olympic sport for the events next edition in Rio, 2016, they were overlooked for golf and rugby sevens.

Key officials from the International Baseball Federation (IBAF) and the International Softball Federation (ISF) are planning to schedule meetings during this week’s SportAccord international convention, which features a meeting of the IOC’s ruling Executive Board.

Their statement read: “Should an agreement be reached to work together, the ISF and the IBAF believe that they would be able to demonstrate compelling reasons why, under such a proposal, their respective sports should be reinstated onto the Olympic programme.

“The IBAF and the ISF would work closely with the IOC to assure that any joint proposal would accomplish their goals in a manner that complies with the Olympic Charter.”

The move represents a major U-turn from softball after last August, the ISF turned down an approach from the IBAF to put in a joint bid to try to regain their places on the programme for 2020.

The ISF President, Don Porter wrote to his counterpart at the IBAF, Riccardo Fraccari, stating: “The ISF has always acted as an independent sport, and presently plans to continue that internationally accepted practice.”

Porter insisted that softball – which was played by women only at four Olympics from 1996-2008- could succeed alone, adding: “Softball, on its own, meets all criteria for inclusion as an Olympic medal sport.

“Softball has been an independently governed sport for many years and its independent and separate proposal was accepted in 1991 by the IOC when softball was added to the Olympic programme.”

Among the reasons that the ISF rejected the overtures last August from baseball was because they feared the baseball’s poor record on drugs would jeopardise their chances.

With the 2014 FIFA World Cup on the horizon, discount deltatre has today announced an agreement to provide graphic services to accompany the BBC’s coverage of this summer’s World Cup from Brazil.

Using dedicated staff on-site in Rio de Janeiro and Salford, deltatre will provide graphic operations and support for the broadcaster’s studio-based programming of the tournament. 

As a complement to the array of other television and second screen viewing enhancements that deltatre is providing to global rights holders, the sports technology leader will have significant involvement in the design, installation and operation of an in-studio Augmented Reality graphic (AR) system. The World Cup AR system will serve as a means to display competition data and situational information, such as the geographic distribution of World Cup stadia across Brazil, which will enrich the overall viewing experience and provide valuable context for audiences. 

Commenting on the announcement, Hugo Sharman, Director North (UK) said, “The FIFA World Cup is a highlight in the sporting calendar, and deltatre is extremely proud to support the BBC in bringing first-class, compelling coverage to football fans across the UK.”

In addition to collaborating on its weekly sports programmes, including Match of the Day, Final Score and Football Focus, deltatre has also worked with the BBC on such high-profile sporting events as the London 2012 Olympic Games, 2012 UEFA European Championship and the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

PyeongChang have been awarded the right to host the 2018 Winter Olympics and Paralympics  at the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Session in Durban on Wednesday evening, unhealthy making it third time lucky for the South Korean city.

IOC President Jacques Rogge announced one of the three candidates had achieved an outright majority in a first round of voting, leading the vast majority to conclude that the South Korean bid had been successful over its rivals from Munich and Annecy. As it transpired, they had secured 63 votes ahead of Munich (25) and Annecy (7).

The decision was not due to be announced until a special ceremony scheduled for 5.22pm but it became evident that PyeongChang appeared to have had big enough support to claim victory in the first round.

On the eve of the vote, one of their officials claimed that they had already secured 54 votes which is 1 less than half of the IOC members. However, due to a number of members being confirmed as absent from the vote, and representatives from the bidding nations not being able to vote, in the end only 95 IOC members were eligible. This meant that Pyeongchang would have needed 48 for an outright victory.

The last time a city won in the first round of voting when there were more than two cities bidding was back in 1995 in Budapest when Salt Lake City won its bid to host the 2002 Winter Olympics and Paralympics, a process which was shrowded in controversy at the time and led to major reforms at the IOC.

PyeongChang will be mightily relieved to have beaten their opponents in the first round of voting having led at this stage in the previous bidding tenders for the 2010 and 2014 editions of the Games, only to be eventually outdone by Vancouver and Sochi respectively.

Ahead of the signing of the Host City Contract, which sets out the legal, commercial and financial rights and obligations of the IOC, the Host City and the National Olympic Committee (NOC) of the Host Country in relation to the Olympic Games, IOC President Jacques Rogge congratulated the PyeongChang team for winning the vote and praised the high quality of their file and final presentation.

“PyeongChang presented a strong and inspiring project that enjoys massive support from the government and the public,” said Rogge ahead of the press conference that followed the announcement ceremony. “I have every confidence that PyeongChang will deliver on its commitment and host excellent Games in 2018.”

The IOC President also thanked the other Candidate Cities: Munich (Germany) and Annecy (France) for their efforts and the quality of their candidatures.

Rogge said: “PyeongChang’s inspiring project sets out to have the heart of the Olympic Winter Games beating in the mountains. The South Korean project will leave a tremendous legacy as PyeongChang will become a new winter sports hub in Asia, allowing athletes and young generations to practise winter sports at home, be exposed to the Olympic Values of Excellence, Friendship, and Respect, and pursue their Olympic dream. I congratulate PyeongChang. The IOC looks forward to collaborating with them over the next seven years.”

Chief executive of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Xavier Gonzalez has claimed that the British Olympic Associations (BOA) fears that next year’s Paralympics in London will make a financial loss are wrong.

The BOA are currently involved in a row with London 2012 which has seen them take legal action over whether their share of profit from the Games should include the cost of the Paralympics.

The BOA are claiming that their cut of any surplus after the 2012 Games should not include the costs of running the Paralympics and have ignored an International Olympic Committee (IOC) ruling against them to take their claim to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

Gonzalez has claimed that Colin Moynihan and Andy Hunt are incorrect in assuming that the Paralympics will operate at a loss, telling BBC Radio 5 Live: “The revenues that we will generate at the Paralympics will cover the cost of hosting the Paralympics.

“That means that the assumptions and the numbers that have been used are wrong.

“We are independent of the discussions that there have been between the BOA, the IOC and LOCOG but we wanted to clarify that that at the Paralympics, on the basis of the information we have, we will not make a loss.

“I respect the right of the BOA to defend their interest if they feel that they are not correctly taking care of their estate but what we are trying to say in this case is that there was a vision for London 2012 and they were the ones presenting the bid [in Singapore in 2005] that was set out as one festival of sport in London that included the Olympics and the Paralympics.

“We are not making a loss and we not draining the Olympic resources.

“All of our own costs are covered by the revenue that LOCOG has been able to generate through sponsors like Sainsbury’s [the first ever Paralympic-only sponsor] and with television agreements like the one which was made with Channel 4.”