Rome’s bid to host the 2020 Olympics and Paralympics will be led by former Italian Sports Minister Mario Pescante, after Ferrari President Luca di Montezemolo has turned down the opportunity to lead the bid.

Pescante, 72, is the vice-president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and according to officials, is set to be formally confirmed as President of Rome 2020 on Wednesday, February 23.

Ferrari chief Montezemolo, who organised Italy’s 1990 FIFA World Cup and has been chairman of Fiat, was proposed as a bid head last week but said he would only take the job if there was enough financial and Government support.

Mayor of Rome, Gianni Alemanno stated: “I’m sorry that Luca di Montezemolo has decided there are not the conditions to accept the role. He was a very good candidate. 

“We are now working together with the Government and Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI) to find a chairman with a profile different from someone with an entrepreneurial background, which will be presented officially on Wednesday at the States General of the city of Rome.”

Pescante, a member of the IOC since 1994, is a professor who was Italy’s Sports Minister between 2001 and 2006 and was closely involved in the organisation of the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin as the Italian Government Supervisor.

The Ferrari boss is not the first to have turned down the opportunity after Nerio Alessandri, the founder of London 2012 sponsor Technogym, had also turned down the job, meaning Pescante will be the third choice to head Rome’s campaign to bring the Olympics back to the Italian capital for the first time since 1960.

Gianni Petrucci, President of CONI, claimed that Pescante was the right person to lead the bid: “He is a good choice because he has a high-profile in sports and has followed the ideals of the Olympic Movement all his life,” he said.

Gunilla Lindberg, chair of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) evaluation commission has praised the bid of South Korea’s PyeongChang’s to host the 2018 Winter Games after the 14-strong team of inspectors concluded a trip to the city.

Lindberg told a press conference on Saturday that PyeongChang had made “great progress” after having previously failed with bids for the 2010 and 2014 Olympics. The IOC team has already visited Annecy in France and is now visiting the final bidding city of Munich before publishing an evaluation report in May.

Lindberg stated: “We have seen great progress in the bid from previous two bids. It has been wonderful to see so many people showing their support to bring the Olympic Winter Games here to Korea.”

IOC inspectors also saw “very strong governmental support” for the bid and “passionate support” from residents, said Lindberg. PyeongChang bid committee chief Cho Yang-Ho added: “I think we have explained our preparations in detail.”

At a final round of presentations on Saturday, South Korean Prime Minister Kim Hwang-Sik proposed a special Olympic law to help PyeongChang speed up construction projects for the event. The IOC will announce the winning bid on July 6.

American sports broadcaster CBS Sports Network has announced it will televise at least three live events from the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards this year.

CBS Sports Network’s coverage, part of its CBS Sports Spectacular programming, begins with the Akona 250 on Saturday, June 21 from Elko Speedway in Minnesota. In addition, CBS Sports Network will televise races from Winchester (Ind.) Speedway on Sunday, July 6 and Madison International Speedway in Oregon, Wisc. on Sunday, Aug. 24.

“We are pleased to provide additional exposure of the ARCA Racing Series on CBS Sports Network,” said Mark Gundrum, ARCA Vice President for Business Development and Corporate Partnerships. “This opportunity is great for the teams, sponsors and fans of the series.”

CBS Sports Network’s coverage will include some of the series’ best short track races, designed to showcase ARCA’s exciting action from the tour’s “bullrings,” including historic Winchester Speedway in Indiana.

“The ARCA short track race events are some of the best each year, and we’re excited to bring the side-by-side action to CBS Sports Network’s viewers,” Gundrum concluded.

The Sri Lankan city of Hambantota, viagra 60mg a candidate to host the 2018 Commonwealth Games are reportedly paying British firm pmplegacy, price part of the London-based Chime Communications, at least US$3m to aid their bid for the event, according to Sri Lankan Sports Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage.

In an interview with the Sunday Leader, Aluthgamage stated: “In order to prepare the bid documents for the 2018 Commonwealth Games and for promotional campaigns we have offered the contract to a British PR Firm pmplegacy.

“The exact amount is known to Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal as he is the chairman of the organising committee that handles the finances.”

According to the Sunday Leader, the money will come out of the $4.5m Sri Lanka is paying another Chime subsidary, public relations firm Bell Pottinger to boost its post-war image.

Pmplegacy, has a distinguished 25-year track record of working  on the evaluation, bidding, planning and delivery of major sporting events including the likes of the 2008 Olympics and Paralympics in Beijing, the 2010 Summer Youth Olympic Games in Singapore and the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

Leading media rights agency MP & Silva have revealed today that it has been appointed as media advisor to the Belgian Jupiler Pro League for a period of six seasons, pills starting on 2014/15 season.

The advisory role will allow MP & Silva to develop and implement in close collaboration with the League commercial strategies in relation to sales of media rights and coordinate under the League’s authority the production and technical services to be provided by prospective licensees.

The worldwide agreement covers all matches of the Jupiler Pro League to be distributed to any platform or devices domestically and internationally.

The addition of the Belgian football league to MP & Silva’s extensive media rights portfolio reaffirms the agency’s market leadership in the international distribution of European professional football content. Jupiler Pro League will join a distinctive group of current MP & Silva partners that include Barclays Premier League, capsule Bundesliga, Italian Serie A, French Ligue 1, Scottish Premier League, the FA Cup, the English Football League, La Liga, Turkish Super Lig and Greek Super League.      

Peter Hutton, joint-CEO, MP & Silva said: “We have been very impressed with the professionalism of the league and the clubs through this commercial process, and now look forward to working with them to build a strong future.”  

Michel Dupont, President, Belgian Jupiler Pro League said: “I am delighted with this new partnership as it is completely in line with our long-term strategy. We will grow as an organisation but also the competition will benefit from it, the Jupiler Pro League will be broadening its international reach. This partnership will therefore boost our strategies.

“The clubs chose this partnership for the fans. With the extra money the quality of our competition will get better and Belgian football can participate on international level. Naturally, this partnership doesn’t make us compete with bigger countries yet, but it will with a few other smaller countries. This will also make us able to attract qualitative better players to the Jupiler Pro League.”