Barclays has renewed its sponsorship of pre-season football tournament, medic the Asia Trophy, anabolics which will take place in Hong Kong in July.

The deal marks the fourth time Barclays has been naming rights sponsor of the tournament. Local side South China FC will compete with Sunderland AFC and two other English Premier League clubs, possibly Manchester City FC and Tottenham Hotspur.

The previous editions of the tournament were played in Kuala Lumpur (2003), Bangkok (2005), Hong Kong (2007 and 2011) and Beijing (2009).

Other sponsors include Nike, EA Sports, Carlsberg, Etihad Airways, Abu Dhabi Tourism and Now TV.{jcomments on}

Paul Brazeau, medstore NBA Vice President of Basketball Operations since 2001, denture has been named Senior Associate Commissioner for Men’s Basketball at The Big East Conference

who has been NBA Vice President of Basketball Operations since 2001 and has nearly two decades of college basketball experience, has been named Senior Associate Commissioner for Men’s Basketball at The Big East Conference, Commissioner Mike Aresco announced. 

For the last 10 years, Brazeau has been part of the group that has overseen NBA game operations, scheduling, player rules, conduct and discipline.  He worked closely with the league’s general managers, head coaches and national office personnel regarding policy issues.  Brazeau has directed a staff of 30 league observers and five staff direct reports. 

Brazeau also has extensive experience in college basketball.  He was the head coach at the University of Hartford for eight seasons (1992-2000) and served five-year terms as an assistant coach at Ohio State (1987-92) and Boston College (1982-87).  Ohio State and Boston College earned five NCAA invitations and three NIT berths during that period.  He served on the staffs of Jim O’Brien, Gary Williams and Randy Ayers. 

“TheBig East is very excited to have Paul Brazeau join the conference as our Senior Associate Commissioner for Men’s Basketball,” said Aresco.  “He has been one of the NBA’s top administrators for the past decade and we’re pleased he has decided to join the Big East.  Paul has outstanding credentials.  He knows how to deal with many different constituencies and has been a college head coach and assistant coach for almost 20 years.  I know our athletic directors and our coaches are going to enjoy working with him.” 

“The Big East has been the premier college basketball conference for over 30 years and it is poised to continue its high level of championship play into the future,” said Brazeau.  “I am looking forward to working with the student-athletes, coaches and athletic department administrators of these great institutions as we build on the Big East’s excellence.” 

At the Big East, Brazeau will be the lead administrator and contact for men’s basketball.  He will represent the conference in overall administration, management and control of the men’s basketball programs.  He will serve as the conference’s liaison with Madison Square Garden, home of The Big East Championship.  Brazeau also will work with all internal basketball constituencies, including institutional administrators, coaching staffs and game officials. 

In addition, Brazeau will help develop and cultivate relationships with television and sponsor partners.  He will assist with basketball television and scheduling issues. 

A native of North Adams, Mass., Brazeau earned an undergraduate degree in economics from Boston College in 1981.  He earned a master’s degree in business administration from Boston College in 1988.

Kickboxing promotion GLORY Sports International (GSI) has acquired the rights to the significant majority of K-1 programming.

This new acquisition brings the total number of kickboxing programming hours under GSI’s control to nearly 3,000.

GSI is a content producer itself, providing programming to over 170 territories. GSI recently secured a major television distribution deal in the United States with SPIKE TV (a unit of Viacom), with the first event set to premiere on Saturday, October 12, 2013; Glory 11 Chicago will be LIVE in prime time from Hoffman Estates’ Sears Centre at 9 pm Eastern Time.

Scott Rudmann, non-executive Director of GLORY, said, “We are delighted to have successfully acquired the Fuji TV portion of the K-1 catalog and to bring most of the historic K-1 footage into the GLORY library.” 

Specifically, GLORY has acquired these rights from the bankruptcy of FEG, the former K-1 promoter in Japan. The rights package comprises the K-1 events that were broadcast by Fuji TV in Japan, and includes the K-1 Grand Prix Finals from locations all over the world dating from 1993 – 2006 and beyond.

The K-1 footage complements GLORY’s existing library, which includes the catalogs for It’s Showtime, Nikko, United Glory and GLORY-produced programming and live events. These historical bouts are now all under the GLORY brand umbrella.

Andrew Whitaker, Chief Executive, GLORY Sports International, added, “With the coming debut of GLORY programming on SPIKE TV and national US television exposure, fight fans will soon see why GLORY is the hottest new story in combat sports.”

Sebastian Coe will become the new British Olympic Association chairman after the only other candidate withdrew.

Richard Leman, the head of British hockey, had faced an almost impossible task against Lord Coe, who was always favourite after the stunning success of the London 2012 Games.

It means Coe will be elected unopposed on November 7 to succeed Lord Moynihan at the helm of the BOA.

Leman, an Olympic gold medal-winner in the men’s hockey in Seoul 1988, canvassed opinion and was advised to withdraw rather than go up against Coe.

Leman said: “Recognising the unique circumstance in which we find ourselves in having the person who led the organisation and delivery of what is widely regarded as the most successful Olympic and Paralympic Games in history standing for election as our next chair, I have decided to put my full support behind Seb Coe and his candidacy.

“The opportunities and challenges we face during the next four years are unprecedented, and from my position as a member of board of directors, I will continue to work closely with our next chair, my colleagues on the board, the national Olympic committee and our staff to meet those challenges.

“Having had the opportunity to compete for Team GB at the Olympic Games, I have always viewed my service to the BOA as an opportunity to give something back to British sport by making certain subsequent generations of athletes benefit from the same life-changing experiences I enjoyed.”

Ghanaian TV network Viasat1 has acquired the broadcast rights to the Barclays Premier League for the remainder of the season.

As part of the deal, medstore the Modern Times Group company will show one game each week as well as a highlights show from the rest of the league with the coverage beginning at the weekend.

The network have been sublicensed rights to the league from SuperSport which bought the rights to show the Barclays Premier League across South Africa, pills Nigeria and Sub-Saharan Africa until 2015/2016.

“We want to give our viewers the best – and we have now decided to reclaim the ‘best of football’,” said Charlotte Gustavsson, Chief executive of Viasat1.

“We have really missed football this past year since we lost Champions League. Football is after all, the number one sport in the world.”

The FA Council have rejected David Bernstein in his bid to remain Chairman of the English soccer governing body beyond his 70th birthday.

Bernstein has been viewed as a force for good since he replaced Lord Triesman in December 2010, taking the bold decision to axe John Terry as England skipper as well as launching a new players’ code of conduct earlier this week. 

Yet he still has not managed to get the FA Council to amend their statutes to allow him to continue in his job beyond next spring.

“I respect the decision and I remain committed to fulfilling my responsibilities and to building on what we have achieved over the past two years,” said Bernstein.

“Next year is a significant one in the FA’s history and I look forward to leading the organisation in the months ahead.”

The news will be greeted with dismay by senior figures at Wembley. Bernstein has worked closely with fellow Club England board members Alex Horne, Sir Trevor Brooking and Adrian Bevington to streamline the organisation of the England team and improve relations with FIFA in the wake of the abysmal World Cup bid episode.

Although he proved he was not scared of the world governing body, leading the calls for FIFA reform and calling for the presidential election to be cancelled, Bernstein has won admirers for his sensible approach to the job.

He remained defiant in his dealings with the issue of Terry’s captaincy, even though it put him in direct confrontation with Fabio Capello, who subsequently resigned.

Now Bernstein will be forced to leave in the middle of the FA’s 150th anniversary celebrations, which seems a bizarre situation for the governing body to find themselves in.

It is also a significant snub for the FA Board, who hoped they held enough influence within the organisation to sway today’s vote.

“The Board had asked the chairman to continue beyond next May until summer 2014 and it subsequently put forward the proposal to today’s FA Council meeting,” read an FA statement.

“Despite strong support for the chairman’s ongoing leadership, in a close vote the Council voted against the amendment on the basis that it would be inappropriate to change known and agreed rules on an individual basis.”

medic sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal;”>look sans-serif;”>Mission Hills China, the biggest golf club in the world, will host the inaugural Golf Management Asia Conference, organised by Informa Sports Group, from 6-8 November, immediately following the WGC-HSBC Champions Tournament.

The conference programme will address the major challenges encountered by golf club management teams across Asia and will gather high level directors, course managers, designers, club owners, presidents of golf associations and tourism authorities to advance practices and shape the future of the game in the region.

“We are delighted to partner with Mission Hills to hold this inaugural conference dedicated to highlight golf clubs management main issues in the region and exchange on how to overcome them” commented Jules Hudry-Prodon, Conference Director for Informa Sports Group. “It will be a unique occasion for our delegates to hear from experienced leaders in the industry within a fantastic location which is internationally renowned.”

Golf operators from across Asia will gather at Mission Hills in November to learn from international and regional experts of the industry among whom include Gordon Moir, Director of Greenkeeping of the famous St Andrews Links, “Home of Golf”, Jon Tomlinson, General Director of the Montgomerie Links Danang in Vietnam, Ken Siems, General Manager of Jinhai Lake Golf Club in China, Peter Frewin, General Manager of the Australian Golf Course Superintendents Association and many more.

Participants will discuss the challenges faced with member retention, player attraction, course maintenance, cost reduction and operation optimisation.

A discovery tour of Mission Hills’ facilities and a delegate tournament will be organised in addition to the 2 days of conference to maximise networking opportunities.

Golf Management Asia will take place on 6-8 November.

 

Please visit www.golfmanagementasia.com for further information.