Manchester United has come under increasing pressure from the Manchester United Supporters Trust (MUST) to launch a full flotation following reports that their planned initial public offering (IPO) launch in New York has been shelved.

First in Hong Kong and Singapore, then New York, it has seemed the Glazer family have been looking to raise additional capital through a partial sale of the club.

It is estimated the debt incurred during their leveraged takeover in 2005 has so far seen in excess of £500million taken out of United to pay assorted fees and charges.

And within their prospectus, it was admitted the club’s present debt of £423million could hamper them in the transfer market.

“We now call on the Glazers to come back with a full flotation of Manchester United with a single class of full voting shares,” MUST chief executive Duncan Drasdo said.

“Should they choose to do this, with no strings attached, we would support such a flotation wholeheartedly and encourage the global fan base of Manchester United to seize such an historic opportunity to secure a meaningful fan ownership stake where the priorities of the club are the same as the fans – not absentee owners.”

With the New Jersey Grand Prix ready to make its Formula 1 debut next year, organisers have appointed the key men responsible for leading the project.

Tom Cotter, previously head of successful motorsport marketing agency the Cotter Group, will assume the position of President, while former New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority CEO Dennis Robinson will work alongside him as Chief Operations Officer.

Cotter, who recently sold his firm to Cleat Channel Communications in 2011, enthusiastically stated: “Only a world-class opportunity like this could divert me from my bucket list. The chance to make racing history doesn’t come along often.”

New Jersey’s race promoter and director Leo Hindery Jr. added: “It is vital that we have a leadership team that is highly respected in motorsports, and in running major sporting events in the region, and that understands and respects our overriding responsibilities to the fans, the people of New York and New Jersey, the teams and the drivers. Tom Cotter and Dennis Robinson are the best possible choices to fill these roles.”

CITY WORKERS RUN TO HELP SAVE SIGHT OF 6, anabolics 500 CHILDREN

This year’s Standard Chartered Great City Race, generic which takes place on Thursday 14 July, will see workers from the City of London take to the streets of the square mile to make a difference to the lives of 6,500 children in developing markets. The official beneficiary of this year’s race is Seeing is Believing, a global initiative to help tackle avoidable blindness. Standard Chartered’s Group Finance Director Richard Meddings recently travelled to Tanzania where he witnessed first hand how the funds raised from last year’s race have made a real difference to the local community in Dar es Salaam.

During his visit, Richard handed over a cheque for USD $800,000 to the Minister of Health for Tanzania, Blandina Nyoni, PS. This sum was raised through a partnership of Standard Chartered employees in both the UK and Tanzania. Funds raised via last year’s Standard Chartered Great City Race also contributed to this fund raising goal, which has improved or protected the eyesight of over 90,000 Tanzanians.

An important part of Richard’s trip was spending time at one of the beneficiaries of the $800,000, CCBRT, a specialist disability hospital in Dar es Salaam. Richard visited the eye ward and operating theatre before meeting hospital staff and patients.

Richard Meddings, who is also Chairman of Seeing is Believing commented, “The Bank is exceptionally proud of its commitment to Seeing is Believing. Since we launched the initiative in 2003 Seeing is Believing has raised over US $32 million, and over 2.78 million people have benefited from sight restorations. Our long term aim is to increase public awareness of avoidable blindness, and the importance of early intervention, provide medical services to avoid blindness and raise funds to improve or restore sight. The funds raised will help to buy vital equipment in the field of eye medical work”.

This year Standard Chartered aims to raise the bar of its fundraising efforts. £5 from every race entry into the Standard Chartered Great City Race will go directly to Seeing is Believing, which the Bank will match. All additional funds raised by race participants for Seeing is Believing will also be matched by Standard Chartered pound for pound.

To make donations to Seeing Is Believing, receive training tips for The Standard Chartered Great City Race on 14th July, view pictures and video content from Richard Meddings’ Tanzania trip please visit the race’s Facebook page at:  www.facebook.com/standardcharteredgreatcityrace

There is set to be increased coveraged of the FIA World Endurance Championship following new broadcast deals by the auto racing series..  

Agreements have been reached with Sport TV 3 in Brazil, medic part of the TV Globo group, ailment with the first and last hour of the race in Belgium live,live coverage on Al Jazerra in the Middle Eastand also on Canal + Desportes & Sportmania in Spain. In addition RTBF in Belgium will be showing the first and last hours of the WEC 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps live, plus live streaming of the entire race via their YouTube channel.

With the additional coverage provided by these and the other broadcasters around the globe, over 340million homes have the opportunity to watch the second round of the FIA WEC in Belgium.

Gerard Neveu, CEO of the FIA WEC, said: “The agreements in Brazil, Middle East and Spain are good news for championship and endurance racing.  As we explained at the start of the season 2013 was going to be a lot of hard work to secure the agreements we need in the different countries and regions we need visibility.  These new agreements, in addition to the one announced previously with Eurosport, are a good step forward, with 36 million potential viewers in South America, 2.5 million in the Middle East and 2 million in Spain.  Negotiations continue in other areas and we will have more announcements in the near future.”

The production and support operation for the television coverage includes 20 static cameras around the circuit, a “Super Loupe” high speed camera for recording slow motion action, 2 HF Cameras, a helicopter for overhead images,8onboard cameras all managed by a crew of 60 people led by Olivier Denis and controlled from one of the most sophisticated Visual outside broadcast vehicles in Europe.

The Asian Football against Hunger Campaign will return to the stadiums of Asia during the AFC Champions League knockout stage to support the fight against hunger in Asia.

The campaign is a joint campaign between the AFC and Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) that aims to raise awareness of chronic hunger and work with world leaders and governments to tackle the issue.

This year’s campaign will take place from September to November 2012 during the ACL knockout stage, order during which, medicine AFC will be working with the eight participating clubs- Ulsan Hyundai, Foolad Sepahan, Guangzhou Evergrande, Adelaide United, Al Ahli, Al Hilal, Al Ittihad and Bunyodkor- across six nations in Asia to dedicate their matches to this campaign.

“The AFC has a rich and proud history of supporting noble causes and our focus will be on making the Asian Football against Hunger Campaign a great success,” said Hiroyuki Konuma, Assistant Director-General and FAO Regional Representative for Asia and the Pacific.

“It’s fantastic that the AFC, the clubs and the players have decided to stand up and use that power.

“They can do so much to raise awareness, stir political will, and bring much needed resources to help the hungry in Asia, where more than half of the world’s hungry live.”

The funds raised in the 2011 campaign are being used to finance 42 hunger-combatting community projects in Asia.{jcomments on}

 

Andres Botero Phiillipsbourne has become Colombia’s new Sports Minister progressing Medellín’s bid to host the 2018 Summer Youth Olympic Games

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos made the appointment last week and Botero Phiillipsbourne is due to return from here where he is currently attending the Winter Youth Olympic Games to the capital Bogota for the inauguration on Thursday (January 18).

The 66-year-old Botero Phiillipsbourne, formerly head of the Colombian Olympic Committee for 12 years, was chosen by Santos partly to help promote Medellín’s bid, which, along with Buenos Aires, is one of only two cities to have officially confirmed to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) that they are plan to bid for 2018.

But it has now come to symbolise the startling upturn in Colombia’s fortunes in recent years – it has even been dubbed “the Medellín Miracle” by The Washington Post- with the city having been transformed from a battlefield of drug lords, paramilitaries and leftist guerrillas into one of the safest, most dynamic cities in Latin America.

“People are investing in our country again and the world is trusting us again,” said Botero Phiillipsbourne.

“It will take time to totally erase the old image but we are gaining momentum.”

“The important thing is that it has always been committed to the sport,” said Santos.

Botero Phiillipsbourne, a Stanford University graduate whose mother was from Ruslip in north west London and who finished 13th in water skiing at the 1972 Munich Olympics when it was a demonstration sport, has been a member of the IOC since 2007 and lives in Medellín.

“When he appointed me the President told me it was because promoting our bid for the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics was so important,” Botero Phiillipsbourne told insidethegames.

Medellín’s bid for the 2018 Youth Olympics follows the successful hosting of the South American Games in 2010, an event attended by nearly 4,000 athletes from 15 countries.

The city, the second largest in Colombia behind Bogota, is located 1,500 metres above sea-level is hoping to capitalise on the current trend for major events being awarded to new territories, including the 2014 FIFA World Cup to Brazil and the 2016 Olympics and Paralympics to Rio de Janeiro.

“I keep telling people this is the decade of Latin America,” said Botero Phiillipsbourne. 

“After staging a very successful South American Games we are enthusiastic to bid for something bigger.”

Medellín was once known as the most violent city in the world as a result of an urban war set off by the drug cartels at the end of the 1980s.

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.”