Standard Chartered has announced that it will be partnering with Nuffield Health, physician the leading corporate health and well-being operator in the City, patient for this year’s Standard Chartered Great City Race, taking place on July 14^{th .}

The partnership will give all City workers taking part in the race access to a host of extra health benefits as they prepare for this year’s not-for-profit 5km corporate running challenge. Runners will be able to hone their preparations by following the advice Nuffield Health specialists have provided including a 5km training programme and a range of other health and fitness tips for runners, as well as offering a free 7 day guest pass for Nuffield Health gyms.

On race night top fitness instructors from Nuffield Health will be leading the official pre-race warm-up for the 6,500 runners, due to take place on stage at the Honourable Artillery Company (HAC) at approximately 18:45pm, before the race start at 19:15 hours.

The 5km race, now in its seventh year, will once again be raising vital funds for Seeing is Believing, Standard Chartered’s global initiative that tackles avoidable blindness around the world in emerging markets. Five pounds from every runner’s entry fee will be donated to the initiative with Standard Chartered giving every team a special incentive to help raise further funds by announcing that it will match all donations pound-for-pound. This year Standard Chartered is aiming to raise enough money to improve the eyesight of 6,500 children, the same number of runners taking part.

Kate Bharucha, Commercial Manager at Nuffield Health stated: “Nuffield Health is delighted to be supporting The Standard Chartered Great City Race this year and helping to raise money for the avoidable blindness initiative, Seeing is Believing. We hope people will visit the Seeing is Believing tent at the HAC where our health & fitness, medical, physiotherapy and nutrition experts will also be on-hand to advise runners how to stay fitter, healthier and achieve their personal fitness and lifestyle goals.”

College athletic conference, The Ivy League, has partnered with NeuLion, Inc., the leading enabler and provider of live and on-demand content to Internet-connected devices, to create the conference’s first-ever digital sports network.

Available to subscribers in August, The Ivy League Digital Network will be accessible on multiple devices, including PCs, smartphones and tablets, allowing for an all-new nine (9)-channel network of Ivy League action anytime, anywhere. Each of the conference’s eight (8) schools will have their own individual channel and the Ivy League will have its own League-wide channel featuring all available digital content across the conference.

The new network, powered by the NeuLion College Platform, will provide live and on-demand video and audio content from each school with interactive touch points that will consistently offer a personalized experience for Ivy League fans everywhere.

“This partnership represents a monumental step forward in enhancing our connection to our fans and continuing to showcase our brand of intercollegiate athletics worldwide,” said Robin Harris, Ivy League Executive Director. “Coupled with NeuLion’s demonstrated experience in delivering digital content to any device, this new network will maximize our alumni’s affinities for their schools by providing a single digital destination to access every school’s sports content with multiple subscription options by school, sport or season.”

With a comprehensive view of sports for each school and across the conference including league-wide sports calendars and access to live and on-demand content from multiple devices, the new Ivy League digital network is expected to increase engagement with Ivy League fans and drive broader viewing of school and league content.

“It’s not just about streaming video,” said Chris Wagner, EVP and Co-Founder of NeuLion. “It’s about the fan experience, the high quality video on any device, and the interaction with the game or match which includes stats, social media and more. The NeuLion College Platformis designed for all of that, each and every time, no matter where Ivy League fans are.”

The organisers of Indonesia’s inaugural Java Cup claim they will sue Everton and Galatasaray after the clubs withdrew from the tournament.

Tournament lawyer Patrick Mbyaya said: “[The] consequences of the cancellation for Everton is [they] pay back all the damages. We will also contact the England Football Association to give disciplinary [sanctions] to Everton. If they refuse to pay back, we’ll take this to the Court of Arbitration for Sports.”{jcomments on}

Simon Ellen has been appointed Non Executive Chairman of Racecourse Media Group (RMG), anesthetist the umbrella organisation for the 30 (33 from May 1) racecourses which hold an interest in Racing UK, drugs Turf TV and GBI Racing.

Ellen, adiposity who joined the RMG Board in June 2010, brings to the role more than 30 years of experience in investment banking and capital markets, mostly at Rothschild and Warburg, before moving into asset management and insurance.

He has subsequently chaired a number of companies owned, largely, by private equity investors, including SBJ Group, which had one of the largest sports books of any UK insurance broking business.

Also a racehorse owner, Ellen said: “I am very much looking forward to working with stakeholders and a management team that have, together, developed a very successful media rights business focussed on the delivery of a high-quality racing product, the benefits of which are channelled directly back into racing.”

Ellen joins CEO Richard FitzGerald, and Non Executives Simon Bazalgette (Jockey Club Racecourses), Bill Farnsworth and John Sanderson (representing smaller independent courses), and William Derby (representing larger independent courses) on the RMG Board.

RMG CEO Richard FitzGerald said: “Simon is an experienced chairman of PLCs and private companies and brings extensive knowledge of the sports industry, so is perfectly positioned to take RMG forward in the ever evolving landscape that is media rights management. We are all greatly looking forward to working under his chairmanship.”

Ellen takes over from Will Wyatt, who joined Racing UK as a non-executive director when it launched in 2004, before being appointed Chairman of RMG in 2008.

FitzGerald added: “I would like to pay tribute to Will Wyatt, who during his tenure as chairman was instrumental in the development and success of Turf TV, the formation of GBI Racing and the expansion of Racing UK. We wish him all the best and look forward to seeing him on the racecourse.”

Haroon Lorgat, medstore CEO of The International Cricket Council (ICC), has taken part in an exclusive Featured Profile interview with iSportconnect.

Lorgat stated that his experience of first-class cricket provided him with “some credibility but more importantly with the insight needed to deal with cricketing issues and the viewpoints from a player’s perspective.”

The ICC has been faced with a multitude of issues in recent months, including the impact of The Decision Review System (DRS) and the rules that run alongside it. Lorgat sticks by the system and its purpose by saying, “simply look at the statistics” adding, “it is widely acknowledged that DRS has improved the number of correct umpiring decisions and avoided any major blunders, which is what it was designed to do.” Lorgat also considers the system to be highlighting the “outstanding ability of our match officials on many, many occasions.”

Lorgat was also confident that recent spot-fixing issues were something the Council had under control. He explained, “we have always been cautioning Members against complacency. I am also convinced that we have avoided many similar scenarios through the education and prevention systems we have in place.” The CEO of The ICC also added that he had “faith” in the appeal process and that cricket would “absolutely not” be tarnished if the charged trio of Pakistani cricketers were successful with their appeal.

Questions have been posed to the ICC regarding the recent success of Twenty20 cricket over the more traditional test and 50 over matches. Lorgat however, contested this opinion by saying “I did not hear a single viewpoint during the ICC Cricket World Cup that 50 over cricket was dead as the interest was significant with a large number of exciting matches.” He also said that the ICC were looking to “enhance the format” of the longer version and to come up with some “new innovations” to make it more exciting. Lorgat also believes the longer form of the game has already improved since the introduction of Twenty20, saying “the standards of fielding” and “run rates” were improving, as seen in The 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup which had the highest runs per over rate of any World Cup.

The ICC’s decision to reformat the next two World Cups to 10 teams has been met with anger from associate members. Since then, the decision has been reviewed with Lorgat stating, “The President, in consultation with the executive and some Board colleagues, has decided that this decision should be reviewed at the Board meeting in June.”

Following security issues and ticket problems in the recent ICC Cricket World Cup, Lorgat believes that, “there is no stadium on the planet that could have catered for the demand for tickets that existed in this event.” He went on to say that, “there were no security incidents around the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup and that is hopefully a reflection of the ICC.” There will also be no change in the process in staging the 2015 ICC World Cup in Australia and New Zealand according to Lorgat. “We will work just as hard with the authorities in Australia and New Zealand because the security of the players, officials, staff and spectators will always be paramount in our thinking and planning.”

Before joining The ICC, Lorgat was a qualified chartered accountant but his “passion” for the game sparked his switch into the sport business world. “I grew up playing the sport every day and it was perhaps a case of trying to fit in my professional career while remaining involved in the sport.” In reference to his role of CEO he added that, “it is enjoyable to work with so many passionate and talented individuals in a stimulating environment.”

Lorgat had the final word on his association with iSportconnect and the incentives it brings, stating: “It brings together people in the fast moving sports business world and offers a platform for the exchange of views, opinions and new ideas.”

Read the full article here – http://isportconnect.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7376&catid=52&Itemid=164

MP & Silva, abortion a leading international media rights company, order has secured a deal for the exclusive rights to distribute four seasons of DKB Handball-Bundesliga, from 2013/14 until 2016/17, which was marketed by SPORT1 in cooperation with German Handball-Bundesliga GmbH.

MP & Silva has worldwide exclusive distribution rights (excluding Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Liechtenstein, Luxemburg and Alto Adige) for television rights across cable, satellite and terrestrial platforms, and for internet, mobile and betting rights. The package includes 2 live matches per round during the regular season (34 weeks), plus a Super Cup (20^th of August), the All Star Game, the German Cup-Final Lufthansa Final Four and weekly highlight programmes.

Andrea Radrizzani, MP & Silva Group CEO, said: “We are extremely excited with this partnership with Handball-Bundesliga. They are the strongest handball league of the world, equivalent to the Premier League in football. We want to support them in advancing the popularity of handball internationally and build on the current positive momentum that the sport has gained in Europe. We look forward to working with our network of broadcasters and partners worldwide to take viewership of this great league to a greater height”

Frank Bohmann, General Manger DKB Handball-Bundesliga, said: “The 4 Season Corporation with MP & Silva is a great move for us on the international market. We are extremely excited with this new partnership and we look forward to participate from the worldwide network of MP & Silva in order to export our big and popular first class German handball to even more countries and viewers.”

Football Federation Australia has offered a pay rise to A-League clubs for next season.

The FFA has reportedly offered the league’s ten clubs a dividend of (Au)$1.9M each for the 2012-13 season, a substantial increase from the (Au)$450,000 from the 2011-12 season and reasonably close to the (Au) $2.8M salary cap.

The increase would be part-funded by by a new government-backed sponsorship.{jcomments on}

H.S.H. Prince Albert II of Monaco is to become a patron of the World Olympians Association (WOA), patient a unique worldwide organization uniting all 100,000 athletes to have competed in an Olympic event.

Following his election last month as President of WOA, Joël Bouzou asked Prince Albert to join in which immediately accepted. His role was unanimously approved by the WOA Board Members and by the President of the International Olympic Committee, Dr. Jacques Rogge.

The Sovereign succeeds Juan Antonio Samaranch who founded the WOA in 1994 and was Patron until his death in 2010.

Himself a fine athlete, H.S.H. Prince Albert II is the only Head of State to have participated in five Olympic Games in bobsleigh (Calgary 1988, Albertville 1992, Lillehammer 1994, Nagano 1998 and Salt Lake City 2002), He has also been a member of the International Olympic Committee since 1985.

A passionate champion of the cause of peace and social progress through sport for many years, H.S.H. Prince Albert II will full-heartedly support and promote the WOA’s new ambition and mission: serving Olympians during and after their careers, and serving society.

WOA President Joël Bouzou said: “It is a tremendous honour for the World Olympians Association to have H.S.H. Prince Albert II of Monaco as the new Patron of our organization. He is an Olympian and a true humanist who has always believed that the values of sport can change lives and can change society for the better. His involvement and advocacy will greatly increase our influence and will make a huge difference to convince new stakeholders that Olympians across the globe can and should contribute to improve the world in which we live. I can’t thank him enough for his support.”

On Joël Bouzou’s recommendation, Swedish Alpine ski Champion and former IOC Member Pernilla Wiberg was also appointed Member of the WOA Executive Board

Pernilla Wiberg is one of the few skiers to have won medals in all five Alpine Ski disciplines (combined, slalom, giant slalom, downhill and Super G). Her achievements are exceptional: two gold medals in the Albertville and Lillehammer Games, four World Championship titles between 1991 and 1999, a victory in the 1997 World Cup, 24 racing medals (14 slalom, 3 Super G, 3 combined, 2 downhill, 2 giant slalom) and no less than 61 appearances on the winners’ podium.

Pernilla was a member of the International Olympic Committee from 2002 to 2010 and she participated in many of its commissions: the Athletes’ commission, Sport and Environment, Ethics, and Coordination of the 2010 Winter Olympics and 2010 Youth Olympic Games… She also serves as President of the Athletes’ commission for the International Ski Federation.

Ten Sports has acquired the broadcast rights for Tour de France till 2016 in the Indian subcontinent.

The channel has acquired the rights for all forms of free to air and pay television, ed DTH and IPTV transmission, pay per view and VOD from Amaury Sport Organisation.

Ten Sports will be the exclusive rights holder for the Indian subcontinent with the exception of rights being shared with the pan regional broadcaster Eurosport in Sri Lanka.

Ten Sports CEO Atul Pande said: “We are proud to be associated with anevent as esteemed as Tour de France, especially at a time when it ishaving its 100th edition in 2013. This long term relationship withTour de France will bring in much delight to our viewers who crave high adrenaline bicycle racing.”

The 2013 Tour de France will be the 100th edition. It is scheduled to start on 29 June in Corsica, in the city of Porto-Vecchio.