The England and Wales Cricket Board announced today that the Yorkshire Chairman Colin Graves has been elected as ECB’s new Deputy Chairman following the completion of the election process conducted by electoral reform services.

The 41 members of the ECB, cough which comprises the 18 First-Class Counties, 21 County Boards, the MCC and the Minor Counties Cricket Association, have elected Mr Graves as Deputy Chairman until the ECB’s Annual General Meeting in 2016.

Mr Graves was nominated for the post last month after winning a ballot of the Chairmen of the First Class Counties and MCC. He succeeds Dennis Amiss who recently announced his intention to stand down from the post at the ECB’s forthcoming AGM in May.

His background includes founding York-based Supermarket chain Costcutter in 1986 and oversaw its growth into a franchise network of more than 1,700 stores.

Soccerex has announced that key representatives from the Scottish FA will all be speaking on the ‘The Future of Scottish Football’ panel hosted by David Davies, at the Soccerex European Forum in Manchester, 10-11 April.

National Coach Gordon Strachan, Chief Executive Stewart Regan, Second Vice President Rod Petrie and Performance Director Mark Wotte will all discuss the Scottish FA’s modernisation plans and outline their vision for the future, relating to the recently published strategic plan,Scotland United.

Looking over the recent challenges as well as the future development of Scottish football, the panel will discuss and analyse the implementation and legacy of the Henry McLeish’s Review of Scottish Football. Published in 2010, the former Scottish First Minister laid out a clear vision for Scottish football with five key elements that needed to bed addressed: Performance, Strong Quality Growth, Governance of the Game, Better Financial Returns and League Reconstruction.

Scotland’s influential position on the global stage will also be discussed; as founding members of the International Football Association Board, the Scottish FA will continue to have a major influence on the laws of the game.

Gordon Strachan was appointed Scotland manager in January 2013. A member of Scotland’s Hall of Fame and having led Celtic into the last 16 of the Champions League as manager, Gordon will provide a unique insight into Scottish football. 

Stewart Regan was appointed chief executive of the Scottish FA in 2010 and was responsible for implementing the most far-reaching governance changes in the organisation’s history. Previously, Director of the Football League Championship and CEO of Yorkshire County Cricket Club, Stewart, who is now Vice-Chairman of the UEFA Marketing Committee, is well versed in sporting administration.

Alongside Stewart at the Scottish FA is former Dutch U19 & U21 Manager, Mark Wotte, who, having coached numerous teams across Europe including Southampton FC, is now charged with implementing one of the McLeish Report’s key pillars as the Scottish FA’s first-ever Performance Director.

Rod Petrie has been involved with Hibernian Football Club since 1996, becoming chairman in 2004. He is currently Second Vice President of the Scottish FA, Chairman of the Professional Game Board in Scotland and a member of UEFA’s Players’ Status, Transfer and Match Agents Committee. He was responsible for turning Hibernian FC into one of the most financially stable clubs in the league and will be able to provide a first-hand account of the pressures of being a chairman in a challenging financial period in Scottish football.

This session will be part of the Forum’s industry leading conference programme which will once again tackle the key issues shaping European football. It will tackle a variety of topics, including fan engagement, discrimination and addiction, life after football, social media and football’s affect on a city. As well as a selection of special 1-2-1 sessions with the game’s biggest names, it will once again set the agenda for the European football industry.

For further information about this event please call +44 (0)208 987 5522 or visit www.soccerex.com/europe.

Time Warner Cable have signed an agreement with FOX Sports San Diego to carry the new regional sports network including San Diego Padres baseball.

Time Warner Cable will begin offering FOX Sports San Diego in time for the 2014 Major League Baseball season so fans can catch all the action.  Padres games will be distributed on Time Warner Cable systems in San Diego, arthritis as well as surrounding areas in the Padres territory. 

The network will launch for Time Warner Cable customers on March 30, 2014. Channel position on Time Warner Cable systems will be announced at a later date. 

“We’re happy for the many Padres fans who are Time Warner Cable customers who now will be able to follow their hometown baseball team on TV all season long,” said Henry Ford, Senior Vice President and General Manager, FOX Sports San Diego.  “With this agreement, Padres baseball will now be available in more homes in San Diego than ever before.” 

“We’re pleased to have reached a reasonable long-term agreement for Fox Sports San Diego, and we look forward to launching this network in the near future,” said Jennifer Chun Senior Vice President, Content Acquisition for Time Warner Cable.

Annecy, the underdog in the bid to host the 2018 Winter Olympics and Paralympics, received a US$3.2m boost yesterday, February 2, on the eve of a crucial visit from inspectors.

The funding increase comes as the government look to play down suggestions that they have not shown enough financial backing to the bid after former chief executive of the Annecy bid, Edgar Grospiron quit in December claiming underfunding issues.

Charles Beigbeder has since replaced the outgoing Grospiron and is more optimistic, hoping to announcing a bigger cash injection into the bid following negotiations with several major firms. 

Beigbeder stated in an interview with the Associated Press: “I have several other projects with private companies which need to be finalised. The money doesn’t make everything but it’s important to promote the bid.”

When speaking of the impending visit from IOC officials the bid chief added: “We can’t win the Games during this visit but we can lose them. They are coming to check that we can actually host the Games. We will be auditioned 16 times over four days and we need to be super-professional.”

In an effort to boost their bid, Annecy have also appointed Britain’s Andrew Craig as a consultant. Craig previously worked on winning bids for Vancovuer 2010, London 2012 and Sochi 2014. 

“Of course we can’t bet all our money on him, but it’s certainly an extra something for us. Promotion is really important and we need to use the best people,” Beigbeder said.

Kickboxing promotion GLORY Sports International (GSI) have renewed a number TV broadcast deals in the Americas and Europe.

In 2014 alone, GLORY will produce well over 100 hours of programming including GLORY Live, GLORY Super Fight Series,GLORY Rewind, Countdown to GLORY and a GLORY magazine show currently in development.

The deal with Eurosport grants availability in 300 million European TV households. Deals in The Americas include renewals for Esporte Interativo in Brazil, Sky Mexico in Mexico and Central America, Suriname (Telesur) and DirecTV in South America.

As a barometer of the sport’s steadily increasing popularity, GLORY 13 Tokyo, broadcast from Japan on December 21^st, 2013 internationally and on Spike TV, pulled in nearly 1 million US viewers at its peak, the strongest audience numbers to date for the new league in the US as part of a 3-year multi-fight deal announced in June of last year.

“We are thrilled with the momentum that international rights renewals has brought to our young company,” said Andrew Whitaker, CEO, GLORY Sports International. “Additionally, the deals in the Americas and Europe reflect the overwhelming receptivity to our programming worldwide. We are certain that GLORY branded kickboxing will continue to deliver the anticipated advertising, subscription and viewership results our partners rightly demand.”

GLORY 14 Zagreb, taking place on March 8^th, 2014 in Croatia, will feature well-known MMA and kickboxing fighter Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic in a highly-anticipated international event.

In the year when The FA celebrate their 150^th anniversary, cheap  Soccerex has announced that Roy Hodgson, ailment Bryan Robson and Kevin Keegan will all be speaking on ‘the Three Lions’ panel hosted by Hayley McQueen at this year’s Soccerex European Forum, on 10-11^th April in Manchester.

The panel will see the current England manager joined by two of the country’s greatest ever players in a special session on English football. The panel will discuss their illustrious careers, the national team’s preparations for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil and the current state of European football.

Hodgson is England’s 14^th full time manager having taken over the national side in May 2012. In his short tenure, Hodgson has taken them to 3^rd in the FIFA rankings, their highest ever position. They are also well on track to qualify for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

Nicknamed ‘Captain Marvel’ for his heroic performances in an England shirt, Robson was capped 90 times for England, including three consecutive World Cups in 1982, 1986, 1990, scoring 26 goals. He enjoyed similar success at Manchester United where he made 461 appearances for the club, becoming the longest serving captain in the club’s history, scoring 99 goals in the process.

Keegan is regarded as one of England’s finest players ever produced. Capped 63 times by England, 31 of those as captain, he went on to score 21 goals. He also enjoyed vast success at Liverpool winning three League titles, two UEFA Cups and a FA and European Cup, as well as being one of the few players to have both captained and managed England.

Soccerex CEO Duncan Revie said: “I’m delighted to welcome Roy, Bryan and Kevin back to Soccerex and to welcome Hayley to her first Soccerex event, which is particularly heart-warming for me and her dad, bearing in mind the Revie and McQueen history. In what is a busy and important year for English football it is a real honour for us to have the current England manager and two of the country’s greatest ever players speaking at the Forum.”

For further information about this event please call +44 (0)208 987 5522 or visit www.soccerex.com/europe.