The English Premier League have announced the introduction of a new Under-21 competition to bridge the gap between the academy and first team.

The first national showcase for Under-21 players will launch on August 17th when Chelsea host Manchester City and Reading visit West Ham.

Teams from 17 Premier League and six Championship clubs – effectively all those who applied for category one status – will be divided into three groups.

From January the sides will then be placed into three pools based on their performance, leading to a knockout stage and final.

The emphasis will be on playing Under-21 players with each team limited to just three over-age outfield players and one over-age goalkeeper.

Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore, said: “Each stage of a player’s development is tailored to ensuring they have the best possible chance of progressing.”

“The new Barclays Under-21 Premier League addresses one of the most critical points – the transition from academy football to the highest standards in the first team.

“We believe this competitive environment, where fans can also come along to watch the next generation of Premier League and international players, will help deliver more talented home grown boys to that next level.”

Manchester City have attempted an audacious move by trying to acquire two former Barcelona executives.

Former Barcelona vice president Ferran Soriano has been singled out by City to be the new chief executive officer at the club.

The Manchester based club has also short-listed some of the best talent from Europe and are also planning to bring former Nou Camp technical director Txiki Begiristain as director of football.

Soriano can speak good English and was a part of the Barcelona board from 2003 to 2008 while Begiristain left the club in 2010 after spending seven years. Both of them played a major role in making Barcelona Europe’s leading force.

Soriano is seen as a successor to Garry Cook who resigned five months ago

At the time when Soriano took up the job at Barcelona their income was only half of Manchester United’s, but now, they are ranked second behind another Spanish giant Real Madrid.

ONE Fighting Championship (ONE FC) has formed an exclusive agreement with Yahoo! Philippines, sickness the number one news site in the Philippines.

Yahoo! Philippines will feature exclusive content on its website all year long, cure including exclusive interviews with fighters, behind the scenes footage and feature highlight stories. Yahoo! readers will also stand a chance to win a trip to future ONE FC events.

ONE FC CEO Victor Cui stated, “On behalf of ONE FC, I will like to welcome Yahoo! Philippines on board. Yahoo! is an internationally recognizable brand and the number one news site in the Philippines and we are beyond excited to have Yahoo! Philippines as an official media partner. The partnership will present unique opportunities for both parties and is testament to the phenomenal growth that ONE FC has made. “

Yahoo! is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, and has 11,500 employees in 25 countries, provinces, and territories. Yahoo! Philippines is the number one web news portal in the country.

Three new members of The PGA of America’s Board of Directors have been appointed at the Association’s 95th Annual Meeting at the Hilton Orlando in Orlando, Fla.

The new PGA District Directors are Jim Antkiewicz of Aliquippa, Pa.; Scott Brandt of St. George, Utah.; and Chris Thomson of Lincoln, Neb., who each will serve three-year terms.

The PGA Board of Directors is composed of the Association’s President, Vice President, Secretary, Honorary President and 17 Directors. The Directors include representatives from each of The PGA’s 14 Districts, two Independent Directors and a member of the PGA Tour. New District Directors are elected by their local PGA Sections.

Jim Antkiewicz succeeds Michael Doctor of Camillus, N.Y., and returns for a second term as District 4 Director, serving the Central New York, Tri-State and Western New York Sections. Antkiewicz, 54, previously served on the PGA Board from 2002 through 2005. Antkiewicz is the PGA director of golf at the Club at Nevillewood in Presto, Pa., where he has served since 1995. He was the 2008 PGA Golf Professional of the Year and in 2011, inducted into the PGA Golf Professional Hall of Fame.

Scott Brandt replaces Ron Dunham of Jackson, Wyo., and Port St. Lucie, Fla., as District 9 Director for the Colorado, Rocky Mountain, and Utah PGA Sections. Elected to membership in 1985, Brandt, 52, is the PGA head professional at Bloomington Country Club in St. George, Utah, where he has served since 1992. He is a past president (2001-02) of the Utah PGA Section and was the 2003 Utah PGA Golf Professional of the Year; the 2011 Section Horton Smith Award recipient; the 1999 Section Bill Strausbaugh Award recipient and the 1995 Section Private Facilities Merchandiser of the Year.

Chris Thomson succeeds Jeff Smith of Oskaloosa, Iowa, as District 8 Director for the Iowa, Minnesota and Nebraska Sections, and was elected to membership in 1991. Thompson, 46, is the PGA head professional at Wilderness Ridge Golf Club in Lincoln, Neb., and served from 2007 to 2009 as president of the Nebraska PGA Section. He is a member of the PGA National Publicity Committee, executive sponsor for the Golf 2.0 Committee; and a member of the President’s Council for growing the game. One of the most decorated members of the Nebraska PGA Section.

The Rugby Football Union’s (RFU) National Community Partnership with Energy Giant SSE will now be managed by Synergy.

SSE appointed specialist marketing consultancy company, Synergy, after a impressive pitch earlier in the year.

The details suggest Synergy will implement a full strategic sponsorship campaign  including digital consultancy, PR, event management and rights exploitation to drive awareness of SSE as a valuable supporter of grassroots rugby in England.

SSE will use the responses gained, prior to the survey closing mid-September, to fully understand the resources that will be made available for clubs to win across the year.

Specifications of how clubs can take part will be announced with the full website launch, currently planned for the beginning of October.

Jonny Petrie, sponsorship manager at SSE said: ‘Critical to our sponsorship is making sure we maximise it. When it came to choosing a partner agency to help us do this, Synergy demonstrated from the first moment that they understood our business and our brand so when matched to their creative thinking made them our natural first choice’.

Lisa Parfitt, director of experiential at Synergy, added: ‘This is a really exciting win for Synergy. Our heritage in rugby sponsorship – including grassroots activation – is unprecedented in our industry, and we are looking forward to building a strong campaign for SSE that helps build their brand in England’.

BBC Scotland has inked a new three-year broadcast deal with the Scottish Premier League (SPL) to cover matches across television, radio and online.

The contract begins in season 2013/14.

The deal allows BBC Scotland to broadcast TV highlights on Sportscene, cover matches live on BBC Radio Scotland’s Sportsound and publish match highlights on the BBC Sport website.

Live TV match coverage is provided by Sky and from this summer BT Vision will take over ESPN’s rights until 2017.

BBC Scotland has been covering Scottish football’s top tier continuously for the past six years.

The new deal also means BBC Scotland can continue to provide up to 10 live radio commentaries each season of Rangers’ games and post the club’s match highlights online.

BBC Scotland’s head of sport, Ewan Angus, said: “There has been no shortage of talking points this season and our offering enables our audiences to stay on the ball, whether they are listening or watching at home or enjoying the content on the move with mobile technology.”

Neil Doncaster, the SPL’s chief executive, said: “The extended BBC deal ensures that SPL football will continue to be available on terrestrial television, as well as online and on mobile, making the league as accessible as possible for supporters.

“In the current economic climate, announcing a three-year partnership is also excellent news for our clubs.”

Sir Alex Ferguson has vented his displeasure about suggestions his support for Manchester United owners the Glazer family is motivated by financial gain. 

The Glazers have been controversial owners of the Premier League club and the recent initial public offering (IPO) has only served to increase fans’ ire against the American businessmen.

The IPO will only partly pay off United’s massive debts, which have been incurred during the Glazer tenure, and there have been claims Ferguson will benefit financially from the move following his recent backing for the owners.

But Ferguson was quick to quash these rumours: “Being aware of the media coverage that is currently ongoing I felt, on this occasion, that I should make my position clear to theManchester United fans,” said Ferguson in a statement.

“In regards to suggestions that I have praised the Glazer family because I stand to financially benefit from the proposed IPO, there is not a single grain of truth in this allegation.

“I do not receive any payments, directly or indirectly, from the IPO.

“Ultimately, I run the football side of this club and in order to do this, you need backing from above.

“The Glazer family have let me get on with my job, there is no interference or obstruction, only support.

“My decisions and beliefs are not based around what is best for my personal financial gain.

“That is an accusation that insults me. If that was the case I would have left Old Trafford a long time ago.

“I am speaking because I do not want a situation to develop whereby the media and other parties create a rift, however small, between myself and Manchester United.

“I’ve spent 25 years of my life pushing this club forward and not only could I not have done that without those fans, I do it for them.”

Four-time Olympian Jackie Joyner-Kersee is one of three new members added to the USA Track and Field’s board of directors.

Joyner-Kersee, ambulance who won three gold, search one silver and two bronze medals at the Olympics, was named to the board Monday, along with sports attorney Eve Wright and network television executive Mickey Carter.

The board also elected current member Steve Miller to the position of vice chairman.

Soccerex are pleased to announce MATCH Services AG as their official travel and accommodation partner for the Soccerex Global Convention taking place in the stunning city of Rio de Janeiro, generic Brazil from 26-30 November, find 2011.

Specialist professional service company MATCH have been appointed by FIFA to provide travel and accommodation solutions alongside ticketing, hospitality and tourist packages for footballs major tournaments including the 2014 FIFA World Cup TM; they previously provided the aforementioned services for the FIFA Confederations Cup South Africa 2009, 2010 FIFA World Cup TM South Africa and the FIFA Confederations Cup 2013.

‘Their logistical expertise coupled with their knowledge of the football industry makes MATCH the perfect partners to help our delegates travel to Brazil and source accommodation for their stay during the Soccerex Global Convention. The fact they are appointed by FIFA testifies to the quality of their organisation and affirms the level of service delegates can expect to receive’ explains Soccerex CEO, Duncan Revie.

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)208 742 7100 or visit www.soccerex.com/global

Soccerex Global Convention

26-30 November 2011

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

If you would like to know more information about this event and other future Soccerex events please visit http://www.soccerex.com // call: +44 (0)208 742 7100 // email:enquiry@soccerex.com

Sportsnet’s The Score has announced it has reached a two-year multiplatform agreement with FIBA, generic the International Basketball Federation, for the rights to eight marquee FIBA events across television, online, and mobile.

The new agreement, which begins now and runs through 2014, features the following premier men’s and women’s FIBA events: 2013 Americas Championship, 2013 U19 World Championship, 2014 Basketball World Cup and 2014 U17 Basketball World Cup.

“We’re in a golden age of basketball in Canada. We are the country to watch for future basketball stars and this new partnership with FIBA provides a tremendous opportunity to showcase home-grown talent to Canadians,” said Navaid Mansuri, Vice-President, Programming, Sportsnet. “The Score has always been at the forefront of basketball and amateur athletics in Canada, and the addition of these events ensures that Canadians will be able to see more world-class hoops action than ever before.”

FIBA action tips off on The Score with the men’s and women’s U19 Americas Championship beginning on June 27 and July 18, respectively, and continuing with the men’s and women’s Americas Championship beginning on August 30 and September 27, respectively. These are important tournaments for Canada’s teams, as they look to secure spots in the 2014 Basketball World Cup.