Rugby is now the third fastest growing sport in the United States according to a major study on sports participation.

The study, clinic conducted in 2010 by the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association (SGMA), anesthetist reveals that new sports are beginning to carve out a greater share of the market, viagra sale | even though overall participation in mainstream team sports has declined. The significant changes include:

• Fast?pitch softball – up 13.8%
• Ice hockey – up 12.2%
• Rugby – up 8.7% and
• Beach Volleyball – up 7.3%

Lacrosse (up 6.2%), Indoor Soccer (up 3.7%) and Gymnastics (up 3.6%) also all experienced growth during the period.

For Rugby, which is played in more than 117 countries by 3.5 million registered players, the trend marks another significant milestone for a sport that has been boosted by Olympic Games inclusion with Sevens to debut at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

International Rugby Board Chairman Bernard Lapasset said: “These are extremely exciting times for Rugby in the United States. We are witnessing strong growth in popularity and participation in one of our key markets for the sport. Also thanks to a strategic vision of development and the hard work and dedication of the national governing body, USA Rugby, more men, women and children are able to engage in Rugby throughout the country.”

Nigel Melville, USA Rugby CEO & President Rugby Operations, added: “Our goal has been to create a strong foundation for the Game through the development of youth, high school and college programmes following a traditional sports model. Americans are attracted to Rugby’s values of respect, integrity and discipline and we are seeing new players coming to the Game. We are also increasing awareness through media and broadcast channels.”

The research on the growth of Rugby in the country provides a boost ahead of the USA Sevens in Las Vegas this weekend (February 12-13), the fourth round of the record-breaking HSBC Sevens World Series.

18.6 million viewers tuned in to see England defeat Ukraine 1-0 on ITV culminating as the biggest British TV audience of the year.

A peak audience of 18.6 million watched the match, representing a 64 percent share for ITV.

This was  “the highest peak television audience on any (U.K.) channel so far this year,” ITV said.

An average of 16.1 million viewers – or 57 percent of the U.K. audience, watched the match from start to finish. An average of 12.7 million tuned in for ITV’s full 3-hour coverage, including pre- and post-match analysis.

The game drew a bigger crowd than the recent BBC concert for Queen Elizabeth II’s diamond jubilee.The jubilee concert celebration, which featured the likes of Paul McCartney, Annie Lennox and Elton John, drew an average of 14.7 million viewers, or a share of 57.4 percent. At its peak, the BBC brought in 17 million viewers, or a share of 65.4 percent.

Across the Channel, France’s M6 recorded its second-best ever rating for the parallel Euro 2012 match between France and Sweden. 12.2 million French viewers, a 44.5 percent share, watched their home team lose 2-0 to Sweden. France, however, will still advance to the quarterfinals, thanks to a stronger performance in its first two Euro 2012 matches.

The rating the best for the year for M6 and second only to the 13.2 million viewers that tuned in 2008 to watch the France vs. Italy match in the first round of the Euro Championship in 2008.

Current acting chief executive Martyn Thomas will resign from all his positions at the Rugby Football Union (RFU) following the November Board of Directors meeting.

The former RFU chairman is also leaving as chairman of the organising committee for the 2015 World Cup in England. Thomas will oversee the transition at the RFU before leaving at the end of his contract on 16th December.

He survived a vote of no confidence in September after threatening legal action should a report into the exit of predecessor John Steele be made public.

RFU chief financial officer Stephen Brown, anesthetist in addition to continuing to fulfil his current responsibilities, order will become RFU Acting CEO on 16th December – until the start date of a new permanent CEO.

RFU chairman Paul Murphy said: “On behalf of the RFU I would like to thank Martyn for his contribution and dedication to rugby and the Union over the years, particularly in his last six as Chairman and latterly as Acting Chief Executive. He has been an integral part of the growth of the Union and the game as well as securing the 2015 Rugby World Cup for England as hosts. I know he will continue to support the Union with all his efforts until his contract ends.

“As a sport we face some exciting and challenging times leading up to 2015, which will be a massive opportunity for the game in this country and as a Union it is important that the leadership structure is in place as soon as possible. The recruitment of new Chief Executive is well underway with an appointment expected by December 14. The Board has been hugely impressed with Stephen Brown since he joined. He is a great asset and we are fortunate to have someone of his calibre to lead the Union in this period.”

Martyn Thomas added: “It has been an honour to be part of the Union, most particularly for the past six months as Acting Chief Executive where I have been lucky enough to get to know better the RFU staff who work tirelessly for the good of the game. Stephen Brown for one has been a phenomenal addition to the Executive Team and, having got to know him very well over the last few months, I have total faith that he will provide the stability and leadership needed at this important time.

“I feel that now is the right time to spend more time with my family. As a result I have decided not to renew my contract at its conclusion in December.”

While the January 2011 transfer window counted down news of big money transfers or stories of ‘the one that got away’, the period of 31 days was followed with a blend of a fans’ excitement and a professional’s close scrutiny, in a Zurich office.

Mark Goddard, the General Manager of the FIFA Transfer Matching System GmbH, and his team have spent the last three years delivering a comprehensive education programme. Visiting associations and football clubs throughout the world, the mission was to explain the workings of FIFA’s new internet-based system aimed at making international transfers more transparent, as well as protecting minor players.

On 1 October 2010, the use of TMS became mandatory for all international transfers of professional players. With a clock in the system counting down the minutes to the moment a transfer window closes, clubs were in no doubt in 2011 that they had to close the deal in time or risk the transfer not going through.

One such transfer that just made the deadline was that of defender David Luiz, whose move from Portugal’s Benfica to Chelsea in England slipped in with two minutes to spare. Luiz’s move was just one of 2,451 international transfers recorded this January, a 104 per cent increase from this time last year, with a combined transfer compensation value of $320m.

More than 4,000 football clubs are now using the FIFA Transfer Matching System, with both buying and selling clubs having to ‘match’ a range of different data in order for the release of an International Transfer Certificate to be approved (see ‘The TMS explained’ to the right for more details).

The Integrity and Compliance Unit of the FIFA TMS closely monitors all of the transfers taking place, and while in previous year’s stories of late transfers were commonplace, FIFA’s rules are now much easier to enforce.

With an online system, all information regarding a transfer is available for analysis and review. Between 60 and 70 transfers from last month’s window are currently being reviewed by the FIFA Players’ Status Department. All the entered information is cross-checked in order to ascertain why an individual transfer was not completed before the applicable deadline. Until that process is complete, the player involved in the transfer is unable to play for the new club.

“At the peak of the window there were 115 Member Associations who were open for business”, said Mark Goddard. “In basic terms, that means that more than half the football planet was using our system, and we’re very pleased that we had no operational issues, whilst our Client Services team were able to provide support and guidance with almost 1,300 queries.

“The implementation of the system is a big step-change in the way that international football transfers are conducted, and we won’t be resting on our laurels. Next month we will start another series of workshops and visits to gain feedback from FIFA’s member associations to see if we can improve things further.

“As a football fan following the endless transfer speculation, it can seem that a club is in negotiations for a player constantly throughout the window. The reality, however, is that once the two clubs agree on all the details, the actual processing of the transfer online in the TMS can take as little as 20 to 40 minutes.”

FOX Sports Media Group (FSMG) today announced a new multi-year television agreement with ECAC Lacrosse.

The NCAA Division I conference includes Air Force, prostate Bellarmine, Denver, Fairfield, Hobart, Loyola University Maryland, Ohio State and Michigan.

This season, FOX Sports Networks (FSN) will televise the ECAC Lacrosse semifinals on Thursday, May 2 (5:00 PM ET and 8:00 PM ET) and finals on Saturday, May 4 (4:00 PM ET) live from Hobart College. The games will also be available on FUEL TV and FOX College Sports.

Beginning with the 2014 season, the ECAC Lacrosse tournament will air on FOX Sports 1, FSMG’s new national sports network set to launch in August. FSMG will also have the opportunity to televise a new ‘Game of the Week’ series.

This agreement demonstrates ECAC Lacrosse’s commitment to growing their national brand and building upon the 2012 NCAA Tournament success, which featured Loyola University Maryland winning the NCAA Championship.

“The ECAC is thrilled to have the ability through the FOX Sports Media Group to showcase the talents of the student-athletes of our lacrosse league on national television,” said ECAC Assistant Commissioner Ben Layton. “The FOX Sports partnership will create a positive atmosphere for our league championship and allow the country to see how competitive our league continues to be.”

“FOX Sports is elated to welcome ECAC Lacrosse and its highly successful member schools into our portfolio of college programming,” said Gary Ehrlich, Executive Vice President, FOX Sports Networks.  “We place tremendous value on college sports and this multi-year partnership features many opportunities to expose more people to ECAC Lacrosse and this exciting sport.”

Pattison Sports Group, ECAC Lacrosse’s sports marketing agency, was an advisor on the deal.

“We are thrilled to help ECAC Lacrosse build on their momentum with the signing of this FOX Sports Media Group partnership. The ECAC values FOX Sports’ vision and investment into the game of lacrosse at the collegiate level over the next few years,” said Jeff Long, President of Pattison Sports Group. “Additionally, FOX Sports’ investment and commitment provides the Conference with a great platform and value proposition for Division I programs interested in joining the ECAC.”

Walter Smith’s led consortium has withdrawn their bid for Rangers football club.

Smith revealed that there has since been a counter offer by the successful Charles Green led consortium, inviting their involvement, but the two parties failed to find common ground within their business plans.

The withdrawal allows the Green consortium to continue unhindered with their bid to take over the club, following “verbal assurances” given to their bidding rivals.

Smith said in a statement: “I would like to clarify the background to the offer of £6million for the assets of the club which I announced on Thursday, June 14 2012. The offer was made to the administrators before the Charles Green consortium had concluded their transaction to acquire the assets at £5.5m from the administrators.

“We felt it necessary to have a fall-back position to secure the club’s future. We have since made the same offer of £6m to the Green consortium through Zeus Capital. Our offer has been rejected and they have made a counter-offer inviting us to join their consortium.

“However, the current business plan is not in accord with our understanding of the present circumstances of the club and the way forward, but we would prefer to leave them to proceed in their own way and we wish them good luck in their endeavours.”

The Smith-led consortium had revealed a dramatic final day bid for Rangers on Thursday, with failure to agree a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) consigning the club to liquidation.

Green and his investors subsequently completed the purchase of the assets of Rangers as a newco for £5.5million and were urged by the former Rangers boss to consider a quick sale but to no avail.

The statement continued: “Members of our consortium had met with Charles Green and Zeus Capital prior to the CVA meeting and it had been agreed that we would be provided with significant information which would give us comfort as to the identity of the consortium members, their strategy and their funding capacity. This information had not been forthcoming by the date of our offer.

“We are therefore withdrawing completely from the process to enable Charles Green and his consortium to move forward. We very much hope the verbal assurances they provided to us – and the public statements made – are adhered to and that the club will therefore be financed and managed with appropriate governance and can go forward in a sustainable manner. We wish the new Rangers Football Club every good fortune.”

World Ski Champion Kevin Rolland has been revealed as the latest ambassador for the 2012 Innsbruck Youth Olympic Games (YOG).

Kevin Rolland, therapy a FIS Freestyle World Ski champion from France, medic joins the ranks of Kim and Alpine skiers Lindsey Vonn and Benjamin Raich to mentor young athletes for Innsbruck 2012 coming up January 13-22 of next year.

Rolland was thrilled at the opportunity, buy cialis “It’s a great honour to be part of the first ever Winter Youth Olympic Games and to share the responsibility of being an Ambassador with such a fantastic group of athletes.

“The values of the Olympic Games have always been important to me and with ski halfpipe now on the Olympic programme I can finally realise my dream of becoming an Olympian at Sochi 2014. I hope my story helps inspire the young athletes going to Innsbruck 2012 to reach for their dreams and to make the most of the unique opportunities the Youth Olympic Games have to offer.”

IOC President Jacques Rogge launched the YOG back in 2007 and the first summer edition successfully took place last summer in Singapore.

Rogge proclaimed, “Kevin is a gifted athlete who embodies the passion and energy of his sport and I am certain he will have a huge impact on the athletes he comes in contact with as Youth Olympic Games Ambassador. Kevin can surely lead by example as a young man of 22 who has already been at the pinnacle of freestyle skiing for a number of years.”

He is also excited about holding the YOG in Austria’s legendary sport city Innsbruck and said, “I am very optimistic of the staging in Innsbruck for many reasons. First of all because the Austrian people love their winter sports and they know everything about them. Innsbruck is a unique setting, a wonderful city full of history and culture and also with a unique concentration of sport venues. And also we can rely on their glory of organizing in a superb way the 1964 and 1976 winter Games.”

The YOG will gather 1,000 top athletes between the ages of 15 and 18 from 65 countries competing in seven sports just as the Olympic Winter Games program for Sochi 2014.  A total of 63 events will be up for medals in 15 disciplines. New events this time will be ski halfpipe, snowboard slopestyle and women’s ski jumping.

Udinese owners, the Pozzo family, have agreed a takeover deal for english Championship side Watford FC.

The Italians, who also own Spanish outfit Granada, have been strongly linked with a move for the Hornets in recent months.

It has now been announced on the club’s official website that an agreement has been struck for the Pozzos to assume control.

A club statement read: “The board of directors, acting on behalf of Watford Football Club, is pleased to confirm that agreement has been reached in principle for the transfer of ownership to the Pozzo family.

“Representatives from the family have been in discussions with Watford Football Club and both parties have agreed initial terms.”

Miles Templeman and Andrew Higginson have been hired by the Rugby Football Union (RFU) as independent non-executive directors of the governing body, prostate after the board of directors recommended the appointments.

The appointments meet one of the recommendations put forward by the Blackett report – which looked into the dismissal of John Steele, the former chief executive of the sport’s governing body.

RFU chairman Paul Murphy told The Press Association: “The Rugby Football Union is a growing organisation with a complex business model. Miles and Andrew are two high-calibre individuals who will bring complementary experience and skills of great range and depth to the RFU in terms of corporate governance, and commercial, financial and strategic acumen.

“Both are passionate about rugby and both have significant experience as non-executive directors in a wide range of sectors which will enhance the running of our business. These two appointments demonstrate our commitment to best practice and good corporate governance of the Rugby Football Union. They address one of the recommendations of the recent Blackett report.”

Templeman recently stepped down as director general of the Institute of Directors, while Higginson was a main board director at Tesco.

Templeman added: “I am delighted to be joining the RFU board not only to help resolve the concerns and difficulties in governance and structure at the top of the game but also to help the development and success of rugby union both at a professional level and throughout the community game.”