Championship football team Huddersfield Town has announced that £340,158 has been raised for the ‘Keep It Up’ campaign during the 2011/12 season, taking the total combined amount across the first three years of the campaign to a staggering £711,672.

The total is the culmination of the hard work and dedication from thousands of Huddersfield Town fans and their families through schemes such as the ‘Knights of Yorkshire’, events like ‘Run and Walk for Pounds’, as well as the epic ‘Pedal for Pounds 3’ bike ride, which alone raised a quarter of a million pounds.

Sean Jarvis, Huddersfield Town’s Commercial Director Sean Jarvis said: “For the ‘Keep It Up’ campaign to have raised over a third of a million pounds in just one season is absolutely amazing and shows once again the extreme generosity of our supporters.

“Our fans, partners and sponsors are consistently showing truly outstanding support for the campaign, and we are more confident than ever that we will hit the £1 million target at the end of 2012/13.

“On behalf of the Club, I’d like to say a massive thank you to anyone who has taken part in a KIU event, sponsored a cyclist, bought a White Rose, or put some change in a collection tin- you have all played a part in contributing to this fantastic total.”

Town Chief Executive Nigel Clibbens is pictured with Yorkshire Air Ambulance’s Director of Fundraising Paul Gowland, their Partnerships Manager Katie Collinson, Town’s Head of Supporter Partnerships Robyn Deegan, Academy Manager Mark Lillis and first team player Tom Clarke.

Paul Gowland, Director of Fundraising at Yorkshire Air Ambulance added: “The ‘Keep It Up’ campaign was certainly a pioneering idea which has proved to be a tremendous success.

“This is testament to the generosity of everyone connected to HTAFC and their commitment to the Yorkshire community.”

Echoing Jarvis’s words, he continued, “The income has enabled Yorkshire Air Ambulance (YAA) to continue our life saving work which includes activity in HD postcodes at least once a week.

“We are stunned with the invaluable support received and would like to pass on our grateful thanks from the Charity and the patients we have been able to transport for life saving treatment.”

Each pound that is raised for the ‘Keep It Up’ campaign is split 50p to the YAA and 50p to the Huddersfield Town Academy.

The money raised will go towards equipment, coaching costs and running fees for the Academy, and towards the maintenance and running costs of YAA’s two life-saving helicopters, which to date have rescued four and a half thousand people in our region.

This season, the Club’s intention is to get to the £1 million mark for the ‘Keep It Up’ campaign. £120,000 was raised for the campaign in 2009/10, and in 2010/11 the total doubled to £251,514.

Having received the support of all local federations, Ricardo Teixeira will continue as the President of the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF), despite calls for his resignation amid renewed corruption accusations. 

A CBF statement read: “The participants declared once again, unanimously, their support to president Ricardo Teixeira.”

However, due to undisclosed medical reasons, Teixeira may have to take a leave of absence in the new future. A handful of federation presidents believe that his future as the head of the body will rest on the results of medical exams that will undergo in the next few days. Ceara State Federation President, Mauro Carmelio said: “It’s still not clear whether he will have to step down. Maybe the doctor will say that he can take some medicine and remain on the job.”

In 2001, Mr Teixeira had been investigated by the Brazilian Congress for a total of 13 crimes, including tax evasion, money laundering and misleading lawmakers, but no charges were brought, although no charges were handed out. 

On a separate occasion, Teixiera was investigated for allegedly accepting kickbacks from marketing firm ISL, but the current CBF President claimed it was just ‘nonsense’.

The Professional Players Federation (PPF) has announced that QPR captain and avid Twitter user Joey Barton has agreed to take part in its conference in London on Monday 17th October 2011.

Joey, who has played in more than 200 Premiership games in 10 years, will join a high profile panel discussing social media. The other panellists are Matthew Syed (the Times), Angus Porter (CEO of the PCA), Matthew Himsworth (Schillings) and Hugh Tomlinson QC (Matrix Chambers) who will all discuss the impact of social media on the modern day athlete and both the pros and cons of using this method of communicating directly with the public.

Joey began his football career with Manchester City in 2002 after working his way through their youth system. His appearances in the senior side gradually increased over the following five years and he made more than 150 appearances for the club. He earned his first cap for the England national team in February 2007 before joining Newcastle United for a fee of £5.8 million in July 2007. After four years with the Magpies he joined his current club Queens Park Rangers in August 2011.

Joey is an ardent user of Twitter, boasting nearly 600,000 followers and courting both controversy and praise for his use of the platform. Commenting on figures from Friedrich Nietzsche and George Orwell to Isambard Kingdom Brunel and Morrissey, Joey’s eclectic tweets have resulted in him being described by the BBC as “as a philosophical sportsman to rival Eric Cantona in his heyday.”

If you want to hear directly from Joey on his thoughts about social media and get the view from the players, then make sure you buy your ticket now to the PPF national conference. 

The conference takes place on Monday 17th October 2011 at the RHS Conference Centre in Westminster. Tickets can be purchased online by visiting www.ppfevents.org.uk.

For press accreditation please click here to email Tom Davies, or call him today on 0844 351 0077.

Premier League footballers in the United Kingdom have seen their salaries increase 1500 per cent since the creation of the League 20 years ago.

This is according to research by think tank the High Pay Centre and is also well above the 186 per cent increase that the average UK worker has enjoyed.

The report found that 70 per cent of a club’s turnover is now taken up by players’ wages, herbal compared to only 48 per cent in 1997.

Manchester United and England striker Wayne Rooney is amongst the highest paid footballers in the country and reportedly earned £8 million from his last contract.

The player also earns lucrative sums from contracts with Nike and Electronic Arts.

Rooney was recently joined at United by Robin Van Persie who is reportedly earning £200, cheap 000 a week at his new club.

Dave Boyle, author of the Report on Footballers’ Wages, said: “Over the last 30 years we have seen massive increases in players’ salaries, accompanying this we have witnessed many fans priced out of the market, levels of debt that would be unsustainable in any other business and a national team that is continually out-performed by teams from much poorer football countries.”

And it is arguable that it is the fans that are paying for the wage increase, as the cheapest tickets for the top games have gone up by over 1000 per cent since 1989.

Cricket Holdings America LLC (CHALLC) has appointed former Everton chief Keith Wyness as its Chief Executive Officer (CEO)  in a major step towards making the dream of world-class cricket in the United States of America (USA) a reality. 

Mr Wyness, buy cheap 54, will be responsible for the delivery of a business plan which will include the sale of Twenty20 franchises for a league planned to start in the summer of 2013. 

Mr Wyness has extensive experience in managing the business of elite-level sport, having worked on the Sydney Olympics of 2000 and as the Chief Executive Officer of two Premier League football clubs, Everton in England and Aberdeen in Scotland. 

He has also spent more than a decade living and working in the USA, something that has provided him with an understanding of the country’s sporting landscape, and where cricket does and can fit into that landscape. 

CHALLC is a joint venture between New Zealand Cricket (NZC) and the United States of America Cricket Association (USACA) for the development of cricket within the USA. 

NZC CEO David White said: “Cricket Holdings America undertook an extensive, worldwide search to find the right person for the role of CEO and in Keith Wyness we believe we have found that person. 

“What Keith brings to the role is an understanding of sport and its importance in peoples’ lives, the business of sport and the USA’s sporting landscape. 

“Keith’s appointment is an important step on the road towards making regular, top-class cricket in the USA a reality, and with his leadership we look forward to moving forward with increasing speed along that road.” 

USACA President Mr Gladstone Dainty added: “Keith Wyness’s appointment is a hugely positive development towards putting the USA centre-stage in the cricket world. 

“USACA looks forward to working with Keith and New Zealand Cricket to make that a reality.” 

Keith Wyness said: “I am delighted to take up the role of Chief Executive Officer of Cricket Holdings America. 

“It is very rare for an opportunity as exciting as this to come along within sport, to have a clean page to develop what I believe will become a major sport in the USA. 

“Cricket is already the second biggest sport in the world and the USA is the biggest commercial market for sport. 

“My role is to marry those two factors together and there is plenty of potential and opportunity to do that. 

“Cricket is already played extensively across the USA with close to 50,000 regular players and it is the world’s second biggest consumer of internet cricket behind India. 

“It means there is already a platform of very interested cricket enthusiasts in the USA and now it is up to us to put together a product that will excite them and also create the opportunity to bring a whole new audience to the game.”

by Ismail Uddin

The Amsterdam 2012 Event will cover 6 expos, professional pills featuring 6 Conferences and 6 combined Exhibitions, with the SPORT being the connection. Amsterdam 2012 Event is anticipated to be the worlds largest sports exhibition and conference(s) event internationally in 2012, with about 3,000 – 6,000 of attendees.

The following 6 expos will be part of the Amsterdam 2012 Event, that will take place onDecember 12-13, 2012. The venue is the prestigious Rai Convention Centre, Amsterdam, Netherlands. The Expos are:

The PANSTADIA EXPO 2012 (www.panstadiaexpo.com), The SPORTS FACILITIES EXPO 2012 (www.sportsfacilitiesexpo.com), The FOOTBALL DEVELOPMENT EXPO 2012 (www.footballdevelopmentexpo.com), The TURF and GRASS EXPO 2012 (www.turfandgrassexpo.com), The PLAYGROUND and LANDSCAPE EXPO 2012 (www.playgroundandlandscapeexpo.com) and The SPORTS TECHNOLOGY EXPO 2012 (www.sportstechnologyexpo.com).

With over 15 months to go, major organisations have all confirmed as speakers at the Amsterdam 2012 Conferences, including: FIFA, International Rugby Board, The Football Association, International Tennis Federation, DFB, KNVB, Denmark FA, Vero Communications, Cairos Technologies, FARE, Sports Path International, Gerard Houllier and many others.

The Exhibition Halls of Amsterdam 2012 Event are designed to have various zones, including country zones such as: India, Russia, Brazil, etc., as well as an exhibition zone for the cities bidding to host the 2020 Olympic Games. Other specific zones shall include: stadia industry zone, synthetic turf industry zone, and others.

The organisers are: Sports Development Marketing, based at the Maison du Sport International, in the Olympic Capital – Lausanne, Switzerland.

For more details please contact:

Tel.:                       0041 216 016 754
E-mail:                  info@amsterdam2012event.com
Website:              www.amsterdam2012event.com

Nguyen Duc Kien one of Vietnam’s a major investor in the country’s football league has been arrested by police at his luxury villa in Hanoi.

Nguyen successfully launched his breakaway football league after a bitter clash with the state football federation. Now he is being charged with conducting “illegal business” by failing to obtain the appropriate licenses and registration for three small investment companies that he chairs also serves as Hanoi FC Chair and chair of a business that runs the country’s professional football association, the V-League.{jcomments on}

Rangers’ administrators have confirmed that chief operating officer Ali Russell and director of football Gordon Smith have agreed to leave the club.

Both will remain with the Scottish champions until the end of the month at the request of the administrators.

Decisions regarding staffing in all other departments will not be taken until next week.

Former Rangers player Smith returned to Ibrox following Craig Whyte’s takeover of the club last May.

But he has revealed his frustration at being restricted in his attempts to carry out the role fully.

Smith said: “It was a great thrill to be offered the director of football role at Rangers. As a fan, it was a wonderful experience to play such a big part in our treble winning season of 77/78.

“However, like my transfer in 1980, my leaving at this time comes as a tremendous wrench. I admit that under the current circumstances it has not come as a major surprise to me.

“I was brought in by Craig Whyte but because his control and reputation has been damaged by recent disclosures, I feel my own position has been undermined by association.

“However, I would make the point that I was very frustrated in my job as I was unable to fulfil the job specification which was originally outlined for me. This was to control the major aspects of the football department outwith the first team operations.

“These were to include recruitment, scouting, transfer negotiations and youth development. I wasn’t in control of any of these activities despite constantly making it clear to Craig Whyte that this was to be my remit. I outlined my medium to long-term strategies for the club on numerous occasions to no avail.

“There’s no point in being a director of football unless you can control these areas so, in that respect, I’m totally comfortable with being made redundant at this time. The main thing for me is that Rangers survives and continues to operate as a great football club and I offer my full support going forward to ensure this happens.”

by Ismail Uddin

discount helvetica, cialis sans-serif;”>Soccerex has announced that Nizan Guanaes, Chairman, Grupo ABC, will be joining a special panel discussing the role of agencies in Sport at this year’s Soccerex Global Convention, 26-30 November 2011.

Nizan will be adding his many years of expertise to this cutting edge football topic as chairman of one of the largest marketing communications groups in the world, a company which was nominated a Global Growth Company by the World Economic Forum.

Nizan is one of the foremost business brains in his field and has won a multitude of awards from the business community.  He is, without doubt, one of the biggest personalities shaping global business today and was this year labelled as one of “the 100 most creative people in business” by Fast Company Magazine.

Duncan Revie, CEO of Soccerex commented: “When we began Soccerex in 1996 we had Mark McCormack and here and now in Brazil we are delighted to welcome a figure of similar stature, Nizan Guanaes.”

Nizan himself commented, “It is a pleasure to be part of Soccerex, undoubtedly the most important football business and networking platform in the world. Football is part of the Brazilian way of life and we need events like Soccerex to help make football a responsible, profitable business which brings value to this country at every level. The quality of representatives that attend offer the opportunity to network with senior decision makers from around the world, building on our international connections whilst promoting the domestic market.”

Over 4000 delegates will attend the Global Convention this year, including representatives from clubs, brands, sponsors, host cities, leagues and federations, government bodies, leading infrastructure suppliers, agencies, international media and many more.

The five day event will include a comprehensive conference line up, a packed exhibition, numerous networking opportunities and a two day Football Festival, all taking place between Forte de Copacabana and Copacabana beach.

For further information about this event please call +44 (0)208742 7100 or visit www.soccerex.com/global

George Soros, the US billionaire, has bought a stake in Manchester United Football Club.

Soro’s investment firm bought approximately 3.1 million Class A shares in the club according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The total amount is 1.9 per cent of the club, who lost 1-0 to Everton in their opening fixture of the Premier League the night before.

The Class A shares that Soros has bought, carry less voting power than the Class B shares that are held by owners, the Glazer family.

United had entered the US stock market earlier in August and valued the club at more than US$2.3 billion (£1.46 billion).

Since being listed on 10 August, the share price of Manchester United has fallen 6.7 per cent.

Soros, 82, had previously shown interest in taking over Serie A side AS Roma, but was put off by the club’s financial problems.

The billionaire investor looks after US$25 billion in assets through his Soros Fund Management LLC.