Marie-José Pérec, the only French athlete ever to win three Olympic gold medals, has become an official ambassador of Annecy’s bid to host the 2018 Winter Olympic Games.

Pérec said: “The technical bid currently in preparation and the concept, focussing on Annecy and Chamonix, will provide an ideal living environment for athletes, while setting the scene for outstanding sporting achievements.

“Annecy is truly a land of sport and champions, not only winter sports – that goes without saying! – but also the whole spectrum of sporting disciplines, not least of all athletics, as illustrated by today’s DecaNation.

“It is therefore essential for the entire French sports world to pull together behind this French Olympic bid.”

Chief executive of Annecy 2018, Edgar Grospiron, added: “Marie-Jo’s Olympic achievements are unique in French athletics history.

“Her support, announced on a day when Annecy, with DecaNation, has once again demonstrated its expertise in the hosting of major international sporting competitions, is precious for the Annecy 2018 bid, a bid for athletes, a bid by athletes.”

By Jay Stuart

Italian sports broadcaster Sportitalia will cease operations on November 1, link  according to Corriere della Sera.

Entrepreneur Tarak Ben Ammar founded Sportitalia, allergy which has three digital terrestrial channels, order in 2004. Last summer, the channels were bought by LT Multimedia.

That company now plans to launch LT Sport with three new sports channels, one dedicated to football, the second to Olympic sports and the third to motor sports, the newspaper said. The new channels will initially be available only via satellite. The DTT frequencies still belong to Sportitalia.

The Central Coast Mariners FC have announced Mike Charlesworth has become the new majority owner of the A-League team.

In a club statement the Australian soccer side said: “Central Coast Mariners FC are pleased to confirm that all legal documents relating to the change of majority ownership of the Club have this afternoon been executed.

“Effective immediately, anesthetist Mr Mike Charlesworth becomes the majority owner of Central Coast Mariners FC. Mr Peter Turnbull remains as Club Chairman.”

This follows Charlesworth providing a major cash injection into the team last week.

An umbrella group of German conservation organisations has withdrawn from a commission evaluating the Munich 2018 Winter Olympic Games bid, saying the plans are environmentally irresponsible.

The German nature conservation ring (DNR) represents 96 environmental groups and has claimed that the bid’s plans to host part of the Games in nearby Garmish-Partenkirchen would damage the environment.

DNR general secretary Helmut Roescheisen said: “We consider, after careful examination of the bid files and two long talks with leading bid representatives, that the hosting of the Games in Garmisch-Partenkirchen with its narrow valleys and its ecologically important areas is irresponsible.

“There is just far too much infrastructure work involved, what with the athletes village, the media village, even the expansion of the skiing slopes, that we just cannot be part of this commission and are dropping out of it.”

Head of the Munich 2018 supervisory board, Michael Vesper, has rejected DNR’s claims, saying: “The vision for an environmentally friendly Games has in no way failed. Quite the opposite.

“This is the the most ambitious environmental concept for an Olympic bid in decades. We will continue working to convince the critics.”

Munich is up against PyeongChang (South Korea) and Annecy (France) to host the 2018 Games. A decision will be made by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) next July.

World Archery has announced an extension to their television rights deal with Lausanne-based global niche-sports rights specialist, doctor Broadreach Media, advice for the Indian subcontinental Asia and Russian territories. 

The renewal represents the first extension of the initial deal signed between the two parties early this year.

In this region, drugs India’s growing strength in archery yielded a haul of 9 medals in World Archery major events in 2013, achieving medal-winning success in all 4 preliminary rounds and finals of this year’s World Archery Cup series.

Tom Dielen, World Archery Secretary General commented: “India is definitely a key market for archery in terms of participation across the country and strong results at the top level. Following on an extensive grass-root program for the last 10 years, they have recently launched a national series of events that gave yet another boost for archery in the country. It is a market where we see a strong potential growth for archery on television and other media outlets. We have been pleased with the expert advice of Broadreach Media since we started our partnership and together we are looking forward to reaching new heights in India and other countries in the region.”

Steven Morris, Director of Broadreach Media Europe said: “Asian broadcasters, particularly those in India, are searching actively for additional sports properties to cricket, that the Indian public finds absorbing.  A key factor of a sport’s engagement potential is its medal-winning success and hence, the emerging talent in India bodes well for World Archery’s continuing growth on the subcontinent.”

The next major World Archery event will be the World Archery Indoor Championships in Nimes, France on 25 February 2014.

Soccerex is excited to announce that the CEO of the 2013 African Cup of Nations Local Organising Committee, sale pills Mvuzo Mbebe, will be speaking on the ‘Delivering the Cup of Nations; Hosting Africa’s Premier Football Event’ conference session at the Soccerex African Forum in Durban, 23-24 October.

The African Cup of Nations is the premier football event in Africa and provides its host nation with a variety of logistical and sporting challenges to face. In this session, Mr. Mbebe, along with other industry experts, will examine the challenges faced by the organising committee, looking specifically at the preparations for next year’s tournament. With the draw of the tournament taking place on the evening of the last day of the African Forum, this session will be of huge interest and importance to all of the attendees.

Mr. Mbebe is a former senior executive within the SABC media group and has a substantial background in the business of sport, currently serving as secretary general of the Supreme Council for Sport in Africa (SCSA). He was the first Chef De Mission of the South African team to attend the All Africa Games in 1995, part of the management team for the first South African teams to attend the Commonwealth Games in Victoria in 1994 and a director for the 7th All Africa Games Organising Committee in 1999.

Speaking on Mr. Mbebe’s involvement, Soccerex CEO Duncan Revie said:

“It is fantastic that Mvuso has decided to speak at the Soccerex African Forum. As CEO of the 2013 African Cup of Nations he will be able to provide an expert analysis on South Africa’s preparations to host the tournament. With the draw taking place on the evening of the last day of the Forum, the session will bring together all of the federations and coaches from across the continent.”