Chinese clubs have started their preparations earlier to meet the criteria for competing in the 2013 AFC Champions League, sale Chinese Football Association (CFA) President and Chinese Super League (CSL) Chairman Yu Hongchen has said.

The AFC Special Mission Team (SMT) began its second inspection for the Asian Champions League 2013 season by meeting CFA and CSL representatives in Beijing.

“This time we have started our preparations earlier, viagra 60mg ” Yu said. “Holding seminars for all 16 clubs in both top divisions of our league has been instrumental in raising their awareness of ACL requirements and criteria.

“However, salve we look forward to your support and recommendations to help our clubs reach their potential.”

AFC Director of Club and Futsal Competitions and Head of SMT, Stuart Ramalingam, said the SMT aims to help Chinese clubs meet the criteria and support the growth of football in China.

He said: “The meteoric improvement of the Chinese Super League in recent years has not only brought attention to Chinese football but has also helped raise the profile of Asian football as a whole and we are supportive of all the initiatives shown by CSL.”

After meeting the CFA in Beijing, the SMT delegation travelled to Dalian for the assessment of clubs and will go to Qingdao, Shanghai and Guangzhou before heading back to Beijing for the conclusive meeting with CFA and CSL on July 1.

After the assessments, the Competitions Division will table all the SMT’s findings to determine the number of slots for each ACL participating nation to be decided by the Competitions Committee in November.

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English Premier League team, order Everton, viagra 60mg Director of Communications Ian Ross has left the club, allergist according to reports.

Everton were forced to mount an internal investigation 10 days ago after private e-mails from Mr Ross about the club’s Chief Executive, Robert Elstone, were published on the internet.

The correspondence, suggesting to be from Mr Ross, was highly critical of Mr Elstone’s leadership, spoke of a culture of paranoia inside Goodison Park and described Goodison as like “working in a kindergarten.”

One mail from Mr Ross suggested that Mr Elstone was “unfit to lead” and heading for some kind of “breakdown.”

Ross, who had been a media officer at Everton FC for 11 years after a highly respected career in journalism, had been expected to switch to a different department inside Goodison.

However it was confirmed this morning that he had now left the club. There was no official comment from Goodison officials.

Stephen Brown will be taking over the role of Acting CEO of the Rugby Football Union (RFU)  from Martyn Thomas with immediate effect, order the RFU announced.

Martyn Thomas will also on December 16 relinquish the chairmanship of England Rugby 2015, ailment the directorship of European Rugby Cup Ltd and step down from the International Rugby Board Council and the Six Nations Committee.

Martyn Thomas said: “Stephen has increasingly taken over the day to day running of the RFU since I announced on November 2 that I would not be renewing my contract after December 16. He has demonstrated in the time that he has been at the RFU that he is immensely capable and this has been underlined once again in the last few weeks. It is therefore entirely logical that he takes on the role of acting CEO as soon as possible. He is highly respected by the staff and I have every confidence that he will provide the stability and leadership needed until a new permanent CEO takes office.

“It has been an honour to serve the Union, find most recently as Acting CEO where I have been lucky enough to get to know the staff who continue to work so hard for the good of the game. They are led by a superb Executive. The RFU has much to look forward to, not least hosting the Rugby World Cup in 2015 and I wish them well.”

RFU Chairman Paul Murphy added: “Our thanks go to Martyn for all the time and effort he has invested on behalf of the RFU in England over the years. Much credit in particular must go to him for the decision to award England the hosting of the Rugby World Cup in 2015.  I have said before that Stephen Brown is a great asset to the Union and we have every confidence that he will have a positive influence during this transitional period until the new CEO takes office.”

Being 70% mountainous Korea’s topography sets it out as an amazing sport tourism Mecca. The peninsulas coastline has a plethora of islands and islets, anesthetist the biggest of which is ‘Jeju’, a semi-tropical island off the south coast, formed by the ancient exploits of an underwater volcano. Added to which, Korea is the 15th biggest economy in the world and already an ‘old head on young shoulders’ when it comes to hosting the world’s biggest sporting events. All these ingredients have interwoven to form an Asian hub for sport tourism.

Within the psyche and fabric of Korean society, well-being for mind and body is within the country’s DNA and Koreans take advantage of the 20 national parks dotted across the country to hike, climb, ski and white water raft making it easier than ever for the international tourist to do the same. The watch word for Korea is ‘diversity’ exemplified by 15 ski-resorts mainly in the north-eastern part of the country keeping a vibrant ski season in business with world class facilities.

2011 will be another hugely important year for Korea’s sport tourism portfolio. The World Taekwondo Championships will be held in May, the IAAF World Athletics Championships in August and another F1 race will return to the new track at Yeongam in October.  Added to which, Pyeongchang, will find out if it will host the 2018 Winter Olympics, when the decision is made in July. Having narrowly missed out on the 2010 & 2014 games, Korea has high hopes for securing 2018; three consecutive bids shows the professionalism, tenacity and belief in what Korea can offer in this field. Investment in winter sports is evident with the opening of the Alpensia Resort, Gangwondo, costing more than $1.8 billion and includes Olympic-standard ski facilities, a five-star hotel and two golf courses. Such a busy sporting calendar is thanks to the legacy and positive reverberations continuing to be felt and reflected in all sectors of Korea’s tourism industry, since hosting the 1988 Summer Olympiad and 2002 FIFA World Cup.

If successful, the winter Olympics will bring global attention to the Korean peninsula once again and with that comes lucrative tangible and intangible benefits for the host nation. Winning the right to host a global sporting festival provides a unique platform from which to raise awareness of the destination, whilst cutting through cultural stereo-typing and showcasing the country’s diversity in areas such as arts, culture, heritage, music and dance. Not to mention acting as a catalyst for change with job creation and development of skills through volunteerism, also new or upgraded infrastructure such as Korea’s award winning Incheon International Airport which opened in 2001 just before the 2002 FIFA World Cup and huge investment in spacious exhibition and conference venues equipped with state-of-the-art technology.

Korea is divided into nine provinces and central government have been astute in spreading major events to all corners of the country widening economic development and raising awareness of areas beyond the capital ‘Seoul’, thus ensuring that the media have a consistent and balanced tourism narrative about the country to export internationally.

Closest to Seoul is the international gateway city of Incheon, dubbed the ‘new Dubai’, which has seen huge expansion and aims to become one of the four top distribution hubs in the world having been designated as a ‘free-economic zone’. Investment and development has helped it win the right to organise the 2014 Asian Games.

In August 2011, the world’s top athletes and media will descend on Daegu, for the IAAF World Athletics Championships. Daegu is located just under 2 hrs from Seoul by rail and is benefitting from the upgraded line carrying the high-speed KTX train between Seoul and Busan, now possible in 2 hours 10 minutes. Having already hosted the ‘2003 Summer Universidad’ Daegu is more than prepared for Augusts major event.

Further down the western coastline, a second F1 race will take place in autumn; a vehicle to regenerate the south west region. In addition to the circuit, the leisure complex will include hotels, a water park, marina, casino, golf course, theme park, shopping malls, water sports, restaurants and bars once all construction phases are complete. Yeongam will compliment ‘Yeosu 2012’ which is a world expo themed around ‘water and sustainability’.

Since 1996 Jeju Island has been a self-governing province, with tourism a key industry for the Island. Also, home to PGA standard golf courses and a world class football stadium, yet nature remains the major draw to adventure and health tourists, lured by the Island’s volcanic legacies which became Korea’s first natural site to be inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage listing back in June 2007, in recognition of their uniqueness. Activities that best take advantage of Jeju are the ‘Jeju Olle Trail’ – 200km of paths which criss-cross the island leading to forests, mountains and beaches. For adrenalin junkies the island is a natural play ground to mountain bike, scuba dive, paraglide or backpack to the craters and lava streams. The island has previously hosted ‘The Jeju International Ironman Korea’ authorized by the World Triathlon Council.

In 2013 a ‘Taekwondo Park’ is set to open in Muju and is anticipated to be a modern ‘world cultural heritage’ for Koreans and sport enthusiasts. The Korea Tourism Org in London is using this mile stone and the run-up to the 2012 London Olympics to work in partnership with Sport Taekwondo (UK), which is the performance arm of the British Taekwondo Control Board, to raise awareness of Korea as the ‘Home of Taekwondo’. This is providing an exceptional platform to promote the destination through the national sport using dedicated online brochures, social media tools and presence at key events.

Taekwondo is a hugely popular global sport with around 60 million practitioners in 184 countries and is a ‘must-do’ activity for tourists to experience whilst travelling in Korea.  The Taekwondo Park is a huge complex spreading across 2,314,000 m sq and divided into three theme zones: ‘Body’ – referred to as a ‘space for experience’ will encompass, for example, a Taekwondo Exhibition Hall and a ‘World Taekwondo Village’; ‘Mind’ will be dedicated to training with a multi-purpose stadium (5,000 seat) and World Taekwondo Academy; ‘Spirit’ will symbolize what the sport means to the home nation but also to sports people around the globe and will contain a ‘Hall of Honour’, ‘Water Terrace’ and ‘Observatory’. The park is nestled under Mt. Baekunsan in Muju, which boasts beautiful scenery of nine valleys. By 2016 forecasters predict annual visitors to reach 1.94 million.

Korea will become only the seventh country in the world to have organized the ‘Triple Crown’ once the IAAF World Athletics Championships Daegu are completed this year, following the successes of the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games and 2002 FIFA World Cup. Thus, Sport tourism on the Korean peninsula is developing at a speed that ‘Usain Bolt’ would struggle to keep up with. Not only will federations entrust the country with future sporting events but as importantly global tourists, corporate meeting planners and conference organisers are confident to explore the scenic beauty and world-class cultural assets. Korea will continue to prosper as a hub for sport tourism and this sector will enhance the destination as a diverse, attractive and memorable country for visitors from all walks of life.

The English Cricket Board (ECB) has expanded a broadcast parnership with the BBC for live ball-by-ball commentary of every LV=County Championship match available throughout the season.

Starting with the opening of the LV=County Championship the commentaries will broadcast via BBC online streams, symptoms which will be hosted on the BBC Sport website and promoted on BBC Local Radio websites, the ECB website and county cricket websites.

To support the new streams, the BBC Sport website has updated the design of all of its ‘county cricket’ pages, which will provide easy access to the live commentaries as they happen. The county cricket page will link to the scorecards for each game and feature the best interviews and audio highlights gathered from the network of BBC commentators and correspondents around the country. The page will also link to external county cricket sites.

BBC Local Radio has supported county cricket for over a decade, and this new agreement extends that commitment to now include all 18 counties. There will also be increased coverage on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra, including commentary of an LV= County Championship match every week. Commentary will come from current BBC Local Radio teams, Radio 5 live sports extra regulars and new talent.

ECB Chief Executive David Collier said: “Today’s announcement is a fantastic boost for county cricket ahead of the new domestic season next month and represents an important part of ECB’s wider transformation plan for the county game which was announced last year following publication of the ‘Morgan Review.’

“With a new domestic playing schedule due to start in 2014, we are keen to promote the county game to the widest possible audience and delighted that the BBC will be providing such comprehensive coverage of all our county competitions, and seeking to recruit a new generation of broadcasting talent. This is great news for all followers of county cricket nationwide, and for the 18 First Class Counties who will undoubtedly benefit from wider levels of media exposure.”

Richard Burgess, BBC Head of Radio Sport and Sports News said: “There is a big appetite for county cricket coverage and this broadcast partnership between the BBC and the ECB means that the entire season will now be available to audiences. The BBC has a long-standing commitment to cricket commentary, and this is a great opportunity to further raise the profile of the sport and promote the game at county level through BBC Sport’s multi-platform capabilities.” 

“In addition the partnership provides an opportunity to identify and develop new cricket commentary talent on the BBC, and will help counties to build relationships further both with local BBC services and other external partners. We’re looking forward to an exciting cricket summer on the BBC, including ball-by-ball coverage of The Investec Ashes Test Series on Test Match Special on Radio 5 live sports extra.”

The Scottish Football League (SFL) has waived away reports that it has reached any agreement over proposals for the ‘newco’ Rangers to play in the First Division.

With Rangers’ future uncertain, the SFL said it had not reached any deal with any other footballing body to enable the club to take a place in the second tier of Scottish football.

The SFL was responding to reports suggesting Charles Green’s club would be relegated from the Scottish Premier League (SPL) to the First Division with immediate effect.

In a statement, it said: “The Scottish Football League can confirm that no agreement has been reached between the SFL and any other body regarding the position of the Rangers ‘newco’ in the First Division. Consultation will continue to take place, primarily with our clubs, as previously advised.”

SPL clubs, which meet to vote on whether to allow the ‘newco’ to play in the top flight early next month, must give an 8-4 majority if Green’s club is to play SPL football.

But with six clubs having declared that they will vote against and more thought likely to follow their example – Green now looks likely to seek a place somewhere in the SFL.

Major League Baseball team, Houston Astros have fired general manager Ed Wade and team president Tal Smith on Sunday night in the first of the changes promised by new owner Jim Crane.

The moves come less than a week after iSportconnect reported the sale of the team from Drayton McLane to Crane was officially completed last Tuesday, a transaction that requires the franchise to move from the NL Central to the AL West in 2013.

In a news conference on the day owners approved the sale on Nov. 17, Crane vowed to meet with all the executives and “make some very, very quick adjustments.”

He has successfully done this with the Astros announcing the moves late Sunday night in a statement from new team president and chief executive officer George Postolos.

Postolos said: “With the change in ownership, we would like a fresh start in baseball operations. We have told Ed Wade and Tal Smith that we are making a change.”

The search for a new general manager will begin immediately. Assistant general manager Dave Gottfried will serve as interim GM, but will not be considered for the permanent job.

Postolos said the Astros want a candidate who has a strong commitment to player development necessary for long-term success.

“Our goal is to consistently compete for a championship, and we know the first step towards that goal is to develop one of the top farm systems in baseball,” Postolos said. “We will hire the best candidate available to achieve our goal.”

Wade was hired in September 2007 after spending the previous two years as a professional scout for the San Diego Padres. He was the general manager of the Philadelphia Phillies from 1998 until he was fired after the 2005 season.

Smith, who has been team president since 1994, has spent more than 50 years as a baseball executive and more than 30 of those years have been with the Astros. He worked for the franchise in its first season in 1962 when the team was known as the Houston Colt .45s and remained in Houston until 1972.

He spent some time working for the Yankees before returning as general manager of the Astros from 1975-80.

Smith’s input was key in the development of both the Astrodome and Minute Maid Park. A small hill in center field at Minute Maid Park is known as Tal’s Hill as a nod to his work on the project.

With regret, order the ITF, ampoule in consultation with Tennis New Zealand and Canterbury Tennis, bronchi has decided to cancel the 2011 ITF Seniors World Individual Championships scheduled to be played in Christchurch, New Zealand next week. The ITF Seniors World Team Championships currently being played in Timaru and Ashburton will continue as planned.

The organisers will now make every effort to ensure the safe return home for all participants. The ITF thanks Tennis New Zealand and the organisers from Canterbury Tennis for all their efforts on behalf of the Seniors World Team and Individual Championships.

“We send our sincere sympathies to the people of Christchurch who have suffered so much due to the earthquake that hit their city on Tuesday,” said ITF President Francesco Ricci Bitti. “While we are, of course, relieved that all the players, captains and officials who were in Christchurch this week are safe, we are mindful of the loss of life and the large number of injuries that have occurred in Christchurch. We thank Tennis New Zealand and Canterbury Tennis for their outstanding efforts on behalf of the Seniors World Team and Individual Championships. We also thank the players for their support of both events and their willingness to play on in these difficult conditions.”