The New York Cosmos will be a professional sport team again after they agreed to join the second division North American Soccer League (NASL).

The American club that once featured Pele and Franz Beckenbauer, clinic are returning to competitive action next year after a 28 year absence.

The original Cosmos folded in 1985 after a short but high-profile existence in the original NASL but were brought back to life in 2010.

Since then the franchise has focused on merchandising and youth football projects and has undergone a change of ownership while rumours have circulated about a return to the professional game through the top-flight Major League Soccer (MLS).

But while MLS has said it intends to create a franchise in New York City and is searching out possible venues, prostate the Cosmos ownership group turned to the second tier league. The New York Red Bulls of MLS play in New Jersey.

“As we continue to expand the league and help grow professional football in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean, the Cosmos brand and their strong ownership group are a perfect fit with us,” NASL Commissioner David Downs said on Thursday.

The Cosmos, who won five championships in the old NASL, will play against some familiar names from the past with the Tampa Bay Rowdies and Fort Lauderdale Strikers both featuring in the league which was created in 2009 taking the name of the old competition which ran from 1968 to 1984.

The Cosmos said they expect to announce in the near future where they will play their home games and who will coach and play for the club.

Indianapolis Colts team owner Jim Irsay has fired team vice chairman Bill Polian and his son, Chris, the Colts’ general manager on Monday as the team looks to bounce back from a horrific season.

“I don’t think there’s ever been a year in the NFL where a team went 2-14 and there’s not been changes,” defensive captain Gary Brackett said Monday, less than 24 hours after a season-ending loss at Jacksonville.

The elder Polian had constructed Super Bowl teams in Buffalo and Indy, and an NFC title contender at Carolina.

But troubling signs emerged this season as the Colts lost time and time again — 13 straight at one point — with franchise qurterback Peyton Manning sidelined to recover from Sept. 8 neck surgery. And it was Manning who suggested he and Bill Polian were not on the same page.

“Just less than two years ago [we were] getting ready to play in the Super Bowl and go to Miami,” Irsay said in a news conference to announce the firings. “Less than two years ago, cleaning off the confetti from the turf at Lucas Oil Stadium. It’s been a very sharp decline.

“Even last year when we were getting ready to play our playoff game at 10-6 and division champs, if someone had said in this room, ‘You’re going to be having the No. 1 pick in the draft, and you’re going to lose 13 games in a row and be 2-14,’ no one could have possibly believed it.”

But without four-time most valuable player Peyton Manning, the Colts were a shell of the team that had so much success with the Polians running the front office. In 14 seasons with Bill Polian running the club, first as general manager and eventually as vice chairman, the Colts went 141-67 with 11 seasons of 10 or more victories. They made it to the playoffs 11 times during his tenure, twice advancing to the Super Bowl and winning the Lombardi Trophy in February 2007 with a victory over Chicago.

Chris Polian had various personnel duties with the team before being promoted to general manager in 2009 and ultimately to team president.

Irsay called the choice to fire the Polians “an intuitive decision” and said, “It was time.”

He said, however, that he will continue to evaluate Caldwell and indicated the coach might remain for a fourth season.

Sergei Cheban, denture the Executive Director of the Russian Premier League, clinic has confirmed as a speaker for the Inside World Football Moscow Forum. Cheban joins a list of high profile and impressive speakers at the event on June 23-24, which includes Alexey Sorokin, Chief Executive of Russia 2018, FIFA Director Walter Gagg, and Marcin Herra, President of Poland 2012.

“The continued growth of Russian domestic football will be integral to the success of the World Cup”, said Simon Joseph, Director of the Forum. “Mr Cheban is uniquely placed to talk about the steps that teams are taking – and the league as a whole – to widen football’s appeal, attract further investment and meet a range of other challenges.”

With six weeks to go until the Moscow Forum, senior executives from Aon, SPORTFIVE, Lagardere Unlimited Stadium Solutions, Nussli, Sport + Markt, Helios Partners, FieldTurf Tarkett, Dow Europe, Triumph Media Group, Aggreko, BTD, Austrade, Beswicks Sports and a host of other key names from the world of sport have confirmed their participationAon, SPORTFIVE, Lagardere Unlimited Stadium Solutions, Nussli, Sport + Markt, Helios Partners, FieldTurf Tarkett, Dow Europe, Triumph Media Group, Aggreko, BTD, Austrade, Beswicks Sports and many other leading names in the global sports industry. at the event.

The Inside World Football Moscow Forum, Moscow, 23-24 June, 2011, will set the stage for preparations for the 2018 FIFA World Cup™ – exploring the challenges that Russia faces and the part specialists can play in providing expertise to the organisers of the tournament.

The Forum’s intensive programme will cover construction, transport, legacy strategy, media solutions, raising sponsorship and many other aspects of organising a major modern sporting event. For the latest details, visit: http://www.eventica.co.uk/?p=4169

The Legends Football League (LFL), formerly known as the Lingerie Football League have renewed their distribution rights deal with Total Sports Asia to encompass the rest of the world, excluding Brazil, Japan, Central and North America.

The US based women’s professional league American football have recently re-branded and are keen to explore their global reach.

The new agreement includes media right representation across all three LFL global leagues to include LFL USA, LFL Canada and LFL Australia. Both TSA and LFL are keen to duplicate the success that they have enjoyed in Asia, in all continents and drastically increase TV distribution and revenues across the globe. 

TSA’s Chief Content Officer, Julian Jackson, said: ”When we 1st got involved with the LFL, we were really happy to close some very large deals soon after being appointed and have since had broadcasters, ask us about the sport in many other markets that we work in globally. This cemented, in our minds, the confidence that we have in the LFL and this has been borne out by the amazing reaction we get from broadcasters when they actually see the hard hitting action. Stay tuned for some more major markets that the LFL will soon be available in.” 

“Our focus for the LFL is to build it as a the largest spanning global league in all of sports. The league’s early and unprecedented success’ internationally are a great indicator of its appeal and potential for growth with international audiences. Television being the leading component of brand building, we feel our now global agreement with TSA enables us a partner that not only understands sports but how to navigate the landscape of media rights”, said, Mitchell S. Mortaza, Founder & Chairman, Legends Football League, LLC.

Die Fußball-EM war im Juni das Topthema der Hauptnachrichtensendungen im deutschen Fernsehen, cialis wie der InfoMonitor des Instituts IFEM, Köln, ermittelt hat. Mit 250 Minuten Berichterstattung lag das Sportereignis deutlich vor Berichten aus dem Umfeld der Fußball-EM, der Euro-Schuldenkrise, der Parlamentswahl und Schuldenkrise in Griechenland sowie der Debatte um den Fiskalpakt.

Die Berichte von der Fußball-EM führten in allen Hauptnachrichtensendungen die Themenliste an. Auf Rang zwei folgten bei den Privaten Berichte aus dem Umfeld der Fußball-WM. Dagegen widmeten “Tagesschau” und “heute” der Eurokrise die zweitmeiste Sendezeit.

Der Sport-Event führte dazu, dass sich die im Mai gestiegene Anzahl der Politikerauftritte in den Nachrichten wieder etwas reduzierte. An der Spitze lag erneut die CDU mit 371 Auftritten, gefolgt von der SPD mit 204 Auftritten. Die FDP war dagegen mit 109 Auftritten deutlich seltener vertreten und musste ihren dritten Rangplatz an Die Linke abgeben, über die mit 146 Auftritten anhaltend stark berichtet wurde. Es folgte die CSU mit 92 Auftritten knapp vor den Grünen (91 Auftritte), die als einzige Partei präsenter als im Mai war.

Die Fußball-EM schlug sich in höheren Sportanteilen in allen Nachrichtensendungen nieder. Dies ging allerdings nur zum Teil auf Kosten der Politikberichterstattung. Diese sank zwar gegenüber dem politikstarken Mai wieder, pendelte sich aber in etwa auf dem Niveau des April ein. Die “Tagesschau” widmete 56 Prozent ihrer Sendezeit der Politik (entspricht 9 Minuten pro Sendung), “heute” 38 Prozent (7 Minuten), “RTL aktuell” 23 Prozent (5 Minuten), die “Sat.1 Nachrichten” 31 Prozent (4 Minuten) und die Nachrichtenmagazine “Tagesthemen” und “heute-journal” je 53 Prozent (11 Minuten). 

The Sri Lanka Cricket board have appointed businessman Upali Dharmadasa as their new president after his rivals withdrew from the contest, claiming it was flawed.

Other officials, including two vice presidents and a secretary, were also elected to the board after their opponents dropped out of the races. A vote was held only for the post of assistant treasurer.

Dharmadasa had been appointed by Sports Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage to lead an interim five-man committee in July after he dissolved the previous board. Aluthgamage then dissolved the interim committee in November and appointed his secretary as the competent authority until elections could be held.

SLC has not had an elected body for seven years and political appointees have run the administration. However the authorities were compelled to hold an election after the International Cricket Council last year made them mandatory for all national cricket boards.

Mohan de Silva, who was a candidate for the post of vice president, said his team decided to withdraw from the election after learning that unknown persons had forced voting clubs to change their representatives to manipulate the vote. He also accused the ministry of allowing clubs to change their voting delegates in violation of the procedure.

“We had a lot of hope that we are returning to democracy with the election. But all that hope is shattered,” de Silva said.

Sports ministry official Ranjani Jayakody said the election was conducted in a free and fair manner, however.

The election comes amid allegations of political meddling and fraud. The board faces a financial crisis having incurred millions of dollars of debt after building two new cricket grounds and renovating another for last year’s World Cup, which Sri Lanka co-hosted with India and Bangladesh.

National team players went without their salaries and match fees for eight months before the ICC last month paid part of them out of the hosting fees it owed Sri Lanka for the World Cup.

Sporting Appointments, medicine the UK’s fastest-growing sports recruitment business, has appointed Gary Double as its Commercial Director to help drive new business for the company.

Double, formerly Director of Media and Communications with Portsmouth Football Club, has worked across a number of major sporting events with high-profile clients while running his own sports PR agency before and after his time at Pompey. He takes up the role with immediate effect.

He will report to Chief Executive and owner Doug Woodward and lead Sporting Appointment’s sales team. Sporting Appointments, which is based in Wimbledon, began operating in 2009 and has already placed people in 17 different sports across four continents.

Woodward said: “Gary has vast experience and an in-depth understanding of how the sports world operates. He is extremely well-connected in all areas of sport at a senior level and has an excellent reputation within the industry. He will be able to open new doors for us as we aim to build the business further.”

Double said: “This is an exciting opportunity for me. The world of sport is big business and finding the right people for the right job is essential to making companies successful. My knowledge and understanding gained through over 20 years of working in the industry will enable Sporting Appointments to find the right calibre of candidates for the roles at all levels.”

During his time in PR, Double has worked for various clients on World Cups, European Championships, the Champions League, Olympic Games, Wimbledon, Formula 1, the European PGA Tour, all major horse racing events including the Grand National  and the Derby, Test Match cricket and World Championship athletics.

He has worked with all major broadcasters in the UK  as well as some abroad, sporting sponsors, PR agencies, governing bodies and football and rugby clubs.

PICTURE SHOWS: Doug Woodward (left) and Gary Double

EHF Marketing GmbH, medstore the marketing arm of the European Handball Federation, no rx has announced that _wige BROADCAST, a subsidiary of _wige MEDIA AG, is to be responsible for the TV production of the VELUX EHF FINAL4.

The event, which will be played on 1/2 June 2013 in the LANXESS arena, Cologne, will be broadcast in over 140 countries and attract a huge global TV audience.

With a team of 40 staff, _wige BROADCAST will be responsible for the complete host broadcasting, including unilateral services such as stand-ups and commentary positions. The company will be on site with two ENG crews as well as two editing suites.

There will be a total of 15 cameras covering the action from the weekend’s four matches, providing exciting and comprehensive coverage of the event for those watching on television and via ehfTV.com, the EHF’s online TV platform.

Three super slow motion cameras, a high-speed camera and three remote cameras will offer viewers a spectacular and diverse range of TV pictures. The entire production will be shown in full HD quality and Dolby Digital Sound. _wige BROADCAST will be supported in technical and personnel aspects by Partner Studio Berlin.

_wige will also provide additional content including features and behind the scenes footage and will be responsible for the production of Fan TV in the LANXESS arena. 

Peter Vargo, Managing Director of EHF Marketing GmbH, said: “Television viewers have come to expect something special from the VELUX EHF FINAL4, and I am confident that the team from _wige, with its extensive experience and expertise in TV production, will deliver another thrilling event to handball fans watching around the world.”

Rangers recent troubles have been further compunded today by the decision to place them in the Third Division of the Scottish League following a vote by Scottish Football League chairmen at Hampden on Friday.

The 30 SFL teams were voting on whether Charles Green’s newco Rangers should enter the league and which division they should be placed in.

The Scottish Premier League and Scottish Football Association were hopeful Rangers would be parachuted into the First Division, with SFA chief executive Stewart Regan claiming that putting the Ibrox club into the Third Division would bring financial catastrophe and a “slow, lingering death” of the game.

Twenty-nine of the 30 SFL clubs accepted Rangers as an associate member of the Scottish Football League while 25 clubs voted in favour of placing the newco team into the bottom tier.

SFL chief executive David Longmuir said: “The member clubs of the Scottish Football League have today voted to willingly accept The Rangers Football Club as an associate member of the Scottish Football League.

“Furthermore, the Scottish Football League’s only acceptable position will be to place Rangers FC into the Third Division of the Irn-Bru Scottish Football League from the start of this season.”

Longmuir also stated that he was ‘comfortable’ with the outcome of the vote and that the decision from the SFL clubs was taken with the sport’s best interests at heart.

He said: “I’m comfortable today that the Scottish Football League made a very, very decisive decision that was based on sporting fairness and I think the Scottish Football League were in the right place to make that decision.

“This decision followed a tried-and-tested process and was taken in cognisance with the other options which were available for consideration.

“Today’s decision has been one of the most difficult for all concerned but it has been taken in the best interest of sporting fairness which is the fundamental principle of the Scottish Football League.

“The Scottish Football League has been entirely consistent with our willingness to work with other bodies to ensure that we focus on rebuilding our game, restoring pride in our game and exploring revenue streams and our willingness to achieve these aims does not alter.”