Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) chief executive Gordon Taylor believes that the reputation of English football has been blemished by revelations made at the trial of John Terry this week. 

The Chelsea captain was found not guilty of racially abusing Queens Park Rangers defender Anton Ferdinand, however Taylor is concerned that the content of the exchanges between the players may have had damaging effects on the Respect campaign. 

He said:”It has been an unedifying process and the game has been damaged as a result of the dirty linen being washed in public.

“I now want to see an improvement in the Respect campaign. It is not just the line between what is banter and what is illegal, so much of what we have heard this week needs to be cut out.

“The players are role models and everything now gets picked up in a match on television. These insults and this language leads to things that should not be said.”

The FA have yet to conclude their investigation into the incident, which took place during the West London derby last October.

The Chicago Bears have fired general manager Jerry Angelo after the team missed the playoffs for the fourth time in five seasons.

Head Coach Lovie Smith spoke Tuesday of his relationship with Angelo.

“I have tremendous respect for him and am sorry to see him go,” Smith said in a statement. “But I also will embrace the opportunity that comes with change. As I said yesterday, we have an excellent core in place. I look forward to working with a new general manager to bring a championship to Chicago.”

Hired in 2001 after a 5-11 finish for Chicago, Angelo’s teams won four division titles and made the franchise’s first Super Bowl appearance since 1985 in 2006. His contract was set to expire in 2014.

“I think Jerry achieved a lot as general manager,” Phillips said. “He’s a wonderful man, high character. I’ve enjoyed every day working with him. He’s put his life’s blood into the Bears.”

Angelo saw the Bears lose five out of the last six during the 2011 season after an injury to franchise QB Jay Cutler forced Caleb Hanie into action. The season saw premier RB Matt Forte suffer a season-ending knee injury and WR Sam Hurd arrested on drug charges.

In an 8-8 campaign, Chicago’s historically stout defense allowed the fifth-most passing yards in the NFL.

Two well-known figures from Russian and international football have confirmed their participation in the Inside World Football Moscow Forum. Held at the Ritz-Carlton in Moscow on 23-24 June 2011, view the Forum will begin the countdown to Russia 2018.

Nic Coward, blue viagra General Secretary of the English Premier League, discount will talk about cultivating a successful ‘football culture’, and what the Premier League has done to foster a collective vision when dealing with a range of challenges, from creating a safe and enjoyable environment for fans to developing a media rights strategy that benefits all clubs.

Yuri Isayev, President of Dynamo Moscow, one of Russia’s leading clubs, has also confirmed his participation. A former Deputy Minister of the Economy and a well-known businessman, Mr Isayev represents a new generation of influential young leaders whose involvement in Russian football will be crucial to its future growth and development. His responsibilities at Dynamo include management of the club’s new home, the VTB Arena.

Mr Coward and Mr Isayev join a long list of other high profile speakers, including:

? Alexey Sorokin, CEO, Russia 2018 World Cup Local Organising Committee

? Walter Gagg, Director, FIFA

? Marcin Herra, President, PL.2012

? David Thomson, Group Events Director, Wembley Stadium

? John Barrow, Senior Principal, Populous

? Diarmuid Crowley, Senior Vice President, IMG

? Hazem Galal, Partner, PwC Brazil

? Annelies van den Belt, CEO, SUP

? Karina Chichkanova, Head, Russian Infrastructure & PPP Practice, Salans

Confirmed participants include senior executives from Siemens, Cushman & Wakefield, Visa, gmp architects, Aon, SPORTFIVE, Lagardere Unlimited Stadium Solutions, Nussli, Sport + Markt, Helios Partners, FieldTurf Tarkett, Dow Europe, Triumph Media Group, Aggreko, BTD, Austrade, Beswicks Sports and many other leading names in the global sports industry.

The Inside World Football Moscow Forum, Moscow, 23-24 June, 2011, will set the stage for preparations for the 2018 FIFA World Cup™ – exploring the challenges that Russia faces and the part specialists can play in providing expertise to the organisers of the tournament.

FIBA, the International Basketball Federation, and Mediaset España have reached an agreement for Mediaset to broadcast the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup to be staged in Spain, as well as the EuroBasket 2013 in Slovenia and the EuroBasket 2015 in Ukraine. 

This agreement gives Spanish fans the opportunity to see their national team compete in the world’s biggest basketball tournaments over the next three years.

As the two-time reigning European champions, the Spanish national team is qualified for EuroBasket 2013 and will aim to win a third consecutive continental title in September.

As hosts of the first-ever FIBA Basketball World Cup, Spain are automatically qualified for FIBA’s flagship event in 2014. The Olympic and World champions USA are the only other team to have already booked a place for this competition.

“Mediaset Sport is excited about bringing these great basketball tournaments into the Spanish homes. Basketball is a sport with a large following and a great future potential in Spain. This is the first time that Mediaset España includes national team basketball in its Sports offer and we are proud of doing it now, when the national team is at its best. The FIBA Basketball World Cup in Spain will be the major sports event and a huge basketball celebration throughout the country,” said Ghislain Barrois, Head of Rights Acquisition of Mediaset España.

FIBA Secretary General and International Olympic Committee (IOC) Member Patrick Baumann endorsed the partnership with Mediaset España.

“It is a great pleasure for us to announce this signed agreement with Mediaset España – a leading broadcaster in Spain – especially in view of the fact that the first-ever FIBA Basketball World Cup will be played in Spain in 2014,” he said.

“This will enable all Spaniards to follow the performance of their national basketball team, which has already given them so many reasons to celebrate in recent years.

“This broadcast agreement also complements the strong results achieved on the joint sponsorship programme between FIBA and FEB.”

UEFA have revealed today the distribution of their payout to clubs both in the Champions League and Europa League League 

A total of €754.1m ($923m) was distributed to clubs participating in the UEFA Champions League last season. The two teams which competed in the final in Munich, Chelsea FC and FC Bayern München, received the highest amounts.

The 56 teams that participated in the 2011/12 UEFA Europa League received payments worth more than €150m ($184m) as a result of UEFA’s revenue distribution system.

Chelsea FC, who won the title after a penalty shoot-out at the Fußball Arena München in May, received €59.935m ($73m) in payments from UEFA. This sum consisted of €29.9m ($36.7m) in participation, match and performance bonuses in the group and knockout stages, including the final, as well as €30.035m ($37m) from the television market pool. Bayern earned a total of €41.730m ($51m): €26.9m ($33m) in participation, match and performance payments, and €14.830m ($18.1m) from the TV market pool.

In addition, €9m ($11m) went to Chelsea for their success in the final, while Bayern earned €5.6m ($6.86m) as runners-up. Other clubs to earn substantial amounts from the 2011/12 UEFA Champions League were FC Barcelona (€40.550m/$49.5m), AC Milan (€39.864m/ $48.78m), Real Madrid CF (€38.434m/$47.03m), Manchester United FC (€35.182m/ $43m) and FC Internazionale Milano (€31.569m/$$38.62m).

The €754.1m prize money allotted to the 32 teams who figured from the group stage onwards consisted of €413m ($505m) in fixed amounts plus €341.1m ($417m) from the market pool. All of the 32 participating clubs received a minimum €7.2m ($8.8m) in accordance with the distribution system, comprising a participation bonus of €3.9m ($4.7m) and €3.3m ($4m) from the six €550,000 ($673,346) match bonuses given per group game.

Additionally, performance bonuses were paid in the group stage: sides received €800,000 ($979,412) for every win and €400,000 ($489,693) for every draw, with Madrid the only club to net the maximum €4.8m ($5.8m). The 16 clubs that reached the round of 16 were each assigned an additional €3m ($3.6m), the eight quarter-finalists an extra €3.3m ($4m), and the four semi-finalists a bonus of €4.2m ($5.1m).

The 56 teams that participated in the 2011/12 UEFA Europa League received payments worth more than €150m ($184m) as a result of UEFA’s revenue distribution system.

Club Atlético de Madrid, winners of the competition, earned themselves just over €10.5m ($12.8m) after coming through the group and knockout stages to clinch the trophy with a fine 3-0 win over fellow Spanish outfit Athletic Club in Bucharest in May. Athletic Club received around €9.5m ($11.6m) for their own splendid run.

Each of the 48 clubs in the group stage earned a participation bonus of €640,000 ($736,376), plus a bonus of €60,000 ($73,421) per group game played, which meant that every club received €1m ($1.22m), irrespective of their results. Performance bonuses amounted to €140,000 ($171,328) per win and €70,000 ($85,664) per draw for each club in the group stage. RSC Anderlecht were the only club to receive the full amount of €840,000 ($1bn) for a 100% record in their group programme.

Each participant in the round of 32 received an extra €200,000 ($244,783), with further progress being rewarded by payments of €300,000 ($367,098) for advancing to the round of 16, €400,000 ($489,446) for the quarter-finals and €700,000 ($856,469) for the semi-finals.

Sale Sharks Rugby Club have appointed Steve Diamond as their new chief executive officer following Mick Hogan‘s decision to leave the club and continue their rise back to the forefront of Rugby in the north of England.

Current chief executive Mick Hogan has confirmed that he will be leaving the club at the end of January in order to take up a post with Rugby 2015, the organising body of the 2015 Rugby World Cup and Diamond looks set to replace him.

At present, Diamond is Sale’s executive director of sport and has been instrumental in helping the Sharks rise up the table with some shrewd signings in the off-season and tactical nous.

Having slid down the pecking order after the glory days of the early to mid-2000’s in which the club won European Challenge Cup titles in 2002 and 2005 and the Premiership in 2006, Sale found themselves struggling to stave off relegation.

Seemingly back on the rise, Sale are looking to make the most of the plight of neighbours Newcastle and Leeds and make themselves the biggest club in the region.

“What we will be doing in the new year with this club is promoting it to seize Manchester and take the North West,” Diamond told the Daily Telegraph.

“We’ve got grand plans, we are embryonic in what we are doing but we are proving that with a bit of direction and enthusiasm and not a lot of money – because we are spending far less than we have ever spent – we can go places.

“The owners are asking me, ‘how do we create a super northern club?’ and I am saying, ‘let’s get the foundations in place for the next year or so’.”

Sale are believed to be in advanced talks with rugby league side Salford City Reds about a groundshare deal for their recently-completed £26million, 12,000-capacity stadium at Barton.

Read what Mick Hogan has to say about Sale Sharks in his exclusive iSportconnect featured profile

Related discussion: Can Steve Diamond create a northern super club?

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) today launched the bid process for the Games of the XXXII Olympiad in 2020. National Olympic Committees (NOCs) have been invited to submit the name of one city within their jurisdiction as an applicant to host the Games in a little under nine years’ time.

The NOCs have until 1 September 2011 to submit the name of an Applicant City, try and these cities will then be required to submit their application files and guarantee letters to the IOC by 15 February 2012. The election of the Host City for the 2020 Olympic Games will take place on 7 September 2013 during the 125th IOC Session in Buenos Aires, symptoms Argentina.

The key phases and dates of the procedure are as follows:

Pre-registration – For the first time, a number of prerequisite criteria for NOCs/ cities wishing to bid for the Olympic Games have been put in place.

Phase I – Known as the Candidature Acceptance Procedure, this involves a thorough review by the IOC of each city’s potential to organise the 2020 Olympic Games. Cities will be asked to reply to a questionnaire. Their answers will be studied by the IOC in order to help the IOC Executive Board select the cities that will become Candidate Cities and therefore move on to Phase II.

Phase II – Known as the Candidature Procedure.  Candidate Cities will be requested to submit their Candidature File, which is an in-depth description of their Olympic project, and prepare for the visit by the IOC Evaluation Commission. The Evaluation Commission will make a detailed technical assessment of each candidature and publish a report at least one month before the election of the host city for IOC members to review.

The New York Cosmos will be a professional sport team again after they agreed to join the second division North American Soccer League (NASL).

The American club that once featured Pele and Franz Beckenbauer, clinic are returning to competitive action next year after a 28 year absence.

The original Cosmos folded in 1985 after a short but high-profile existence in the original NASL but were brought back to life in 2010.

Since then the franchise has focused on merchandising and youth football projects and has undergone a change of ownership while rumours have circulated about a return to the professional game through the top-flight Major League Soccer (MLS).

But while MLS has said it intends to create a franchise in New York City and is searching out possible venues, prostate the Cosmos ownership group turned to the second tier league. The New York Red Bulls of MLS play in New Jersey.

“As we continue to expand the league and help grow professional football in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean, the Cosmos brand and their strong ownership group are a perfect fit with us,” NASL Commissioner David Downs said on Thursday.

The Cosmos, who won five championships in the old NASL, will play against some familiar names from the past with the Tampa Bay Rowdies and Fort Lauderdale Strikers both featuring in the league which was created in 2009 taking the name of the old competition which ran from 1968 to 1984.

The Cosmos said they expect to announce in the near future where they will play their home games and who will coach and play for the club.

Indianapolis Colts team owner Jim Irsay has fired team vice chairman Bill Polian and his son, Chris, the Colts’ general manager on Monday as the team looks to bounce back from a horrific season.

“I don’t think there’s ever been a year in the NFL where a team went 2-14 and there’s not been changes,” defensive captain Gary Brackett said Monday, less than 24 hours after a season-ending loss at Jacksonville.

The elder Polian had constructed Super Bowl teams in Buffalo and Indy, and an NFC title contender at Carolina.

But troubling signs emerged this season as the Colts lost time and time again — 13 straight at one point — with franchise qurterback Peyton Manning sidelined to recover from Sept. 8 neck surgery. And it was Manning who suggested he and Bill Polian were not on the same page.

“Just less than two years ago [we were] getting ready to play in the Super Bowl and go to Miami,” Irsay said in a news conference to announce the firings. “Less than two years ago, cleaning off the confetti from the turf at Lucas Oil Stadium. It’s been a very sharp decline.

“Even last year when we were getting ready to play our playoff game at 10-6 and division champs, if someone had said in this room, ‘You’re going to be having the No. 1 pick in the draft, and you’re going to lose 13 games in a row and be 2-14,’ no one could have possibly believed it.”

But without four-time most valuable player Peyton Manning, the Colts were a shell of the team that had so much success with the Polians running the front office. In 14 seasons with Bill Polian running the club, first as general manager and eventually as vice chairman, the Colts went 141-67 with 11 seasons of 10 or more victories. They made it to the playoffs 11 times during his tenure, twice advancing to the Super Bowl and winning the Lombardi Trophy in February 2007 with a victory over Chicago.

Chris Polian had various personnel duties with the team before being promoted to general manager in 2009 and ultimately to team president.

Irsay called the choice to fire the Polians “an intuitive decision” and said, “It was time.”

He said, however, that he will continue to evaluate Caldwell and indicated the coach might remain for a fourth season.