Fiat has been announced as the official sponsor and vehicle supplier of the 2012 UCI BMX World Championships in Birmingham.  As part of the partnership, order the car manufacturer will supply and design the ‘hot seat’, ed which hosts the rider with the leading time during the time trial event on Friday, pharm 25 May.  As in other action sports such as Downhill Mountain biking and skiing, the Hot Seat is the place where the leading rider sits throughout the timed event until their time is either bettered by a competitor or they become world champion.

The event, which takes place at the National Indoor Arena, from 24-27 May, will attract more than 2,000 riders from across the world, including Olympic GB hopefuls Shanaze Reade and Liam Phillips, who will be gunning for world titles in their last major outings before the London 2012 Olympics. The event will also provide the final opportunity for elite athletes to secure points to count towards qualification to the Games.

Jonny Clay, Event Director for the UCI BMX World Championships said, “We’re delighted to have Fiat on board for the Championships. As a partner of British Cycling they have been a generous supporter of our major sports programme in recent years and we’re proud to have them involved once again for this event.”

“We are delighted to be supporting the UCI BMX World Championships,” says Elena Bernardelli, Marketing Director, Fiat Group Automobiles UK Ltd. “Fiat is already a big fan of cycle sports – we sponsor British Cycling – and the BMX discipline is among the most exciting of them all. I am sure the Birmingham event will be a great success.”

Opportunities for partners are still open across sponsorship, experiential and branding.   For further information contact Sam Orford at Generate Sponsorship on 0845 241 8111 or email so@generatesponsorship.com

For further information on the UCI BMX World Championships or to buy tickets for the event go to www.bmxworldchamps.com

FOX Sports has announced a five-year multi-media rights deal with the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) to broadcast United SportsCar Racing until 2018.

Today’s announcement, ambulance which comes on the heels of last week’s news that FOX Sports will broadcast NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, NASCAR Nationwide Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races through 2024, bolsters FOX’s expansive motorsports coverage. The agreement also includes coverage of IMSA’s Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge for five years. 

In September of 2012, GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series and the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón announced the two entities were merging in one of the most significant developments in the history of sports car racing in North America. Later named United SportsCar Racing, sanctioned by IMSA, the premier new sports car racing series begins its next chapter with the Rolex 24 At Daytona in January of 2014.

“It’s hard to argue that there’s a global media company more equipped and better resourced to cover and broadcast sports car racing than FOX Sports,” said Ed Bennett, CEO of IMSA. “By partnering with FOX Sports for the next five years, United SportsCar Racing, Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge and their teams, tracks, drivers and sponsors are positioned for strong exposure while our existing fans can expect top-notch presentation, promotion and marketing.” 

Under the new arrangement, FOX Sports also has the right to stream all IMSA races as part of its FOX Sports GO product. IMSA retains additional digital rights including alternate camera angles and full race replays.

“It’s a fantastic opportunity to partner with IMSA and newly formed United SportsCar Racing,” said Billy Wanger, FOX Sports EVP of Programming & Research. “Our commitment to motorsports remains very strong across the FOX family of networks, and this relationship with what is now a unified sports car community delivers a strong package of racing content for its passionate fans.”

FOX Sports began broadcasting live NASCAR races in 2001 and will launch its new all-sports network, FOX Sports 1, on Aug. 17 with a broadcast of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race from Michigan International Speedway as the network’s first-ever live event. On the same day, FOX Sports 2 will broadcast the Rolex Series SFP Grand Prix from Kansas Speedway, with a re-air Sunday on FOX Sports 1. 

“FOX Sports has shown a thirst for live sports programming, and in particular live motorsports programming,” said Scott Atherton, ALMS President and CEO. “We’re thrilled to have partnered with FOX Sports on this deal, rounding out their motorsports coverage with this content and giving sports car racing fans a place to call home for the next five years. United SportsCar Racing and the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge will be surrounded by some of the best sports programming in the world and will benefit from great awareness and promotion.”

English Championship side, Birmingham CIty may have new owners soon after the club’s parent company confirmed they were locked in negotiations with a potential buyer in Hong Kong.

The news will come as a further blow to the UK consortium led by Gianni Paladini, which has made a £30m bid for the Championship side.

Birmingham City acting chairman Peter Pannu denied, earlier this month (16 November), that the club was in any active negotiations with Paladini’s consortium.

He urged supporters of the club to only rely on formal announcements on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange about the future ownership of the side.

In October, the owner of Birmingham City confirmed it had been approached by several prospective buyers for the club.

“Given the fact that confidential non-disclosure agreements had been entered into with three of the parties who are still in pursuit, two in Hong Kong and one in the UK, it is inappropriate to divulge detailed information of the status of the negotiations,” Birmingham International Holdings Ltd said in a statement to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange this afternoon.

The company added: “The negotiation with one of the parties in Hong Kong is at an advanced stage, although no conditional binding agreement had been entered into between the parties.

“The transaction, if it proceeds, will constitute a very substantial disposal transaction by the company under the listing rules and will be subject to the approval of the shareholders in a general meeting. A detailed announcement will be made as and when appropriate.”

London 2012 Organising Committee chairman, Sebastian Coe has revealed that he will stand to be the next chairman of the British Olympic Association. 

Lord Coe said he had been approached to stand as the successor to Colin Moynihan by the BOA committee appointed to draw up a list of candidates.

He announced his candidacy after the parade of British athletes in London that celebrated the team’s unprecedented successes in the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

He said: “I have been approached and I am happy for my name go to forward.”

Coe, who is an IAAF vice president, has also said in the past that he wants to replace Lamine Diack as head of track and field’s governing body in three years time.

Durchschnittlich 6, view 69 Millionen Zuschauer (Marktanteil: 21, viagra 5 Prozent) sahen am Mittwochabend, capsule 21. November 2012, die ZDF-Live-Übertragung des Champions-League-Spiels FC Schalke 04 gegen Olympiakos Piräus (1:0). In der Schlussphase verfolgten bis zu 7,89 Millionen ZDF-Zuschauer die Begegnung.

Auf großes Interesse stießen auch die Zusammenfassungen der weiteren Champions-League-Spiele des Tages, die sich durchschnittlich 5,17 Millionen Fußballfreunde (Marktanteil: 24,3 Prozent) im Anschluss an die Live-Übertragung nicht entgehen ließen.

Fédération Internationale de Natation (FINA) President Dr. Julio Cesar Maglione was re-elected for a fifth term as President of the Uruguayan National Olympic Committee.

He was firstly elected as President of the Uruguayan NOC in 1996, clinic then in 1998, 2004 and 2008.  

Dr. Julio Cesar Maglione has been an IOC Member since 1996. He was a national champion and national record holder in the 100m and 200m butterfly and breaststroke from 1949 to 1954. During his swimming career, he achieved the following results: a bronze medal in the 200m breaststroke and 100m butterfly, and a silver medal in the 4×100 relay at the Latin-American Games in La Havana, Cuba in 1954.

A new women’s professional soccer league is set to be launched in 2012, Sunil Gulati, president of the U.S. Soccer Federation announced.

Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS) folded this season, leaving a domestic void in the in the professional club soccer landscape for the U.S. women’s national team.

But Gulati announced that a new league, kicking off early to mid-April of 2013, will have eight clubs based in the following locations: Boston, New Jersey, Western New York, Washington D.C., Chicago, Kansas City, Seattle and Portland. The league was capped at eight teams to avoid dilution of the talent pool.

“We need a sustainable model. Less hype and better performance,” Gulati said. “True hype will come if we have performance.”

The U.S. Soccer Federation will absorb the costs of running the front office, and players will be dispersed by the yet-to-be-named league based on player preferences as well as the use of some form of a draft.

“We’ll use like-kind services and more interns and those kind of things to keep our back-office costs down and still have all the requirements of fielding a professional standard operating model,” said Boston Breakers owner Michael Stoller.

Merritt Paulson, owner of the Major League Soccer franchise Portland Timbers, has stated that he will be involved in the Portland women’s team in some capacity, sparking rumors of a potential Lady Timbers team.

“The Timbers are, and always will be, steadfastly committed to growing the sport of soccer in our region at all levels, and championing a new women’s league and operating a team here in Soccer City, USA, will be an important part of that growth,” Paulson said in a club statement.

There was no word of additional involvement of MLS owners in the other seven cities.