There have been female deputy chef de missions before – Kitty Chiller for the Australian Olympic team in London last August, and Kate McLoughlin for the Paralympic team a month later in September.

But McLoughlin has broken through the glass ceiling with her appointment as chef for the Australian Paralympic team at next year’s Sochi Games in Russia.

“I don’t think it’s a case of women not being interested in sports operations,” McLoughlin said of the groundbreaking appointment, which was foreshadowed online by The Australian yesterday.

“I feel it’s a case of most women being ranked at middle management or lower. It’s men therefore that always get the leadership roles.

“I read somewhere recently that only 20 per cent of national federations have women as CEOs. I guess everything in sport still tends to lean towards men but it’s changing,” she added.

“And that’s what is really good, the APC is trying to break that trend and bring women through.”

The news coincides with the ‘one year to go’ countdown to the 2014 Paralympics which will run from March 7-16.

McLoughlin, who is sports operations manager at the APC, was village mayor at the 2009 Australian Youth Olympic Games and also worked for the NSW Institute of Sport.

Sky Sports have announced today new long-term contracts with six current sports properties.

The six different sports includes the British & Irish Lions, Super League rugby, England overseas cricket, Scottish football, speedway and sports entertainment leader, WWE.

The deals further strengthen the unrivalled breadth and quality of coverage on Sky Sports and come on the back of strong growth in audiences.

In the last six months of 2013, Sky Sports enjoyed its highest share of viewing for six years, including increased audiences for live Premier League football and its biggest-ever audience for rugby union.

For Lions Rugby Sky Sports will provide live coverage of the 2017 British & Irish Lions Tour to New Zealand, including every Test match against the All Blacks. With Super League they have signed a five-year deal from 2017 to air Leage matches until at least 2021.

The deal with England cricket encompasses the New Zealand tour including two England winter tours in 2018 and 2020. Scottish Football will again be seen on Sky Sports with a new four-year deal inked with the Scottish FA beginning next season for the Scottish Cup, international friendlies and Scottish FA Youth Cup.

There were also deals for Speedway with the Elite League being showcased and WWE with a new ive-year deal from 2015 offering over 600 hours of content a year from the worldwide leader in sports entertainment including weekly programming and 12 special PPV events a year.

The new agreements add to an outstanding line-up of live sport on Sky Sports, with highlights in 2014 to include every match in the ICC World Twenty20, the launch of live coverage of Euro 2016 qualifiers and the Ryder Cup from Gleneagles.

Barney Francis, managing director of Sky Sports, said: “Sky Sports had an excellent year in 2013 and we’re looking forward to an outstanding line-up for our customers in 2014.

“These agreements secure even more fantastic live sport for our audience, offering them unrivalled breadth and quality for years to come.”

Munich, rival bidders to the PyeongChang and Annecy efforts to win the right to host the 2018 Winter Games, have received a timely boost to their bid prospects after announcing an agreement welcoming on board five new ‘Friends of the Bid’.

The new deals mean that the Bid Committee has now signed a combined total of 21 partnership agreements.The five new ‘Freinds’ include aeronautics giant EADS, City Partner München, Eventpool, JMT Mietmöbel and United Ambient Media.

Managing director of Munich 2018, Jürgen Bühl stated: “The commitment by these five new ‘Friends of the Bid’ demonstrates that local, national and international businesses can see the wealth of opportunities that hosting the Winter Games would generate: not only for their own businesses, but for their entire industries. In addition to financial support, these businesses are pledging to contribute their expertise, ideas and products to Munich 2018’s bid.”

John Kelly has been announced as the new Chief Operating Officer of Football Federation Australia (FFA). 

Kelly has been promoted to the new role after joining FFA as the Chief Financial Officer in January 2012. Previously, he spent a decade in senior executive roles with Ten Network Holdings.

During FFA’s broadcast negotiations last year with FOX SPORTS, SBS and Foxtel, Kelly played a leading role in securing arrangements that will deliver $160 million of economic value of the next four years.

FFA CEO David Gallop said the creation of the COO role and the appointment of John Kelly were the first steps in a restructure aimed at giving FFA a greater focus on implementation of strategies and operational efficiency.

“John Kelly has vast experience in corporate finance and executive administration within the sports and entertainment industry,” Gallop said.

“His significant role in the successful broadcast negotiations was acknowledged by all parties. In my first 100 days in the job John’s sharp business and financial acumen have been demonstrated on a wide range of major projects beyond his finance portfolio.

“I’m delighted John has accepted this important role as COO and I look forward to working closely with him to make FFA a better organisation for all our stakeholders.”

As the COO, Kelly will retain responsibility for finance and assume control of international and domestic broadcast and digital rights, information and communications technology, major event acquisition and stadium hiring arrangements.

He will have a formal co-ordination role over major projects that cover a range of new business opportunities for the benefit of community football and the professional tier.

“I’m grateful to David Gallop for giving me this new opportunity and having confidence in my ability,” Kelly said.

“My first year at FFA has given me a great insight to the football world. I’m tremendously excited by the growth I’ve seen this season and the opportunities ahead. As COO, I look forward to the challenge of delivering business improvements across a wide range of activities.”