Russian ice dancer Olympic champion Tatyana Navka has been revealed as the latest Sochi 2014 ambassador with her main job promoting Olympic and Paralympic values in the build up to the games on the Black Sea Coast.

Navka, adiposity 36, viagra 100mg is a two-time world champion, three-time European champion, as well as the 2006 Olympic champion, with partner Roman Kostomarov.

She joins a gowing list of ambassadors for the Winter Olympic Games, including hockey star Alexander Ovechkin and bobsledder Alexey Voyevoda.

Dmitry Chernyshenko, President and chief executive of Sochi 2014, said: “Tatyana is one of the most prominent sports personalities in modern figure skating, an Olympic champion and a firm favourite amongst the Russian audience. She has already participated in several projects for the Sochi 2014 Olympic Committee and is already a fully-fledged member of our big team.”

Navka added: “It is a great honour to become the Sochi 2014 ambassador and I will do my best to promote sports for everyone, with a special focus on children from low income backgrounds from different regions of Russia.”

Jeder Dritte der unter 35-Jährigen will die Spiele der EM unterwegs auf dem Smartphoneoder Tablet-PC verfolgen, hat kürzlich eine Studie von Ipsos und Kabel Deutschlandermittelt. Das kann allerdings schnell zu Frust statt Lust führen. Denn nach spätestens 45Minuten wird für die meisten Handynutzer die Internetverbindung so stark verlangsamt, dassLive-Übertragungen unmöglich sind.

Der Internet-Handyshop 7mobile.de hat errechnet,dass die Internetverbindung bei den derzeit üblichen Surf-Flatrates meist nach 200 bis 500Megabyte gedrosselt wird. Bei einem 90-minütigen Spiel wird allerdings je nach Bildqualitätschnell ein Gigabyte Volumen verbraucht. Da die UEFA EURO 2012 über drei Wochenstattfindet, ist das Datenvolumen für den ganzen Monat für die meisten Handy-Nutzer bereitsnach der allerersten Halbzeit verbraucht.

“Wer Fußballspiele live auf dem Handy oder Tablet-PC sehen möchte, sollte dies nicht überdie Internetverbindung des Mobilanbieters tun, sondern über eine WLAN-Verbindung”, rätThorsten Piontek, Geschäftsführer von 7mobile.de.

After securing the President of baseball operations spot, the Chicago Cubs announced further acquisitions Wednesday night in the form of San Diego Padres duo Jed Hoyer and Jason Mcleod who will join the front office.

Hoyer, the Padres general manager, will assume the title of executive vice president/general manager under Epstein, who was introduced Tuesday as the Cubs president of baseball operations. McLeod, an assistant GM with Hoyer in San Diego, has been hired as senior vice president/scouting and player development.

The Cubs have agreed to send the Padres a player to be named as compensation. The Padres intend to announce vice president of baseball operations Josh Byrnes as Hoyer’s successor.

In a joint statement on Wednesday night, the Cubs and Padres said they intend to hold press conferences to formally announce the hirings after the World Series. 

A major league source with knowledge of negotiations between the Cubs and Padres said compensation will come in the form of a lesser player than the one who will go to Boston as compensation for Epstein.

In his introductory press conference on Tuesday, Epstein would not say whether the Cubs would bring in a general manager.

“If we bring in someone as the general manager, it will be because it’s someone I think is one of the best and brightest in the game and can make a real impact for the Cubs,” Epstein said. “We have a ton of work to do. It’s going to be a lot of hard work. We’re ready for it. But the more impact front office personnel we have, more impact scouts that we have, more impact field staff that we have, the better and maybe the quicker the timetable for getting this thing right.

“If we ultimately hire a GM, it will be because we think it’s the right person for the job and that person will evolve into helping to run the major league team day-to-day. I’ll still ultimately run the baseball operations department, but it will free me up to get involved more in the big picture, it will free me up to get in the trenches with doing the work in scouting and player development to build that foundation for scouting and development.”

Byrnes and Hoyer worked with Epstein in Boston before moving to their next positions. Hoyer took over as Padres GM in 2010 after Kevin Towers was fired.

The 37-year-old Hoyer was a senior vice president and assistant GM to Epstein in Boston from 2005-09. He served as co-general manager with Ben Cherington for 44 days in 2005, when Epstein stepped away from the job while he negotiated a new deal with the Red Sox.

Hoyer joined the Red Sox in 2001 as an intern. He played baseball at Wesleyan University and was assistant coach there in 1999 and 2000.

Hoyer worked with Epstein on Boston player acquisitions, contract negotiations and player evaluations. His speciality was quantitative analysis, also known as sabermetrics. But he combined that with practical scouting, which he also helped direct.

McLeod’s expertise is in amateur scouting. He is given credit for stocking and fortifying the Red Sox farm system under the guidance of Epstein and Hoyer.

Spanish club, apoplectic Atletico Madrid has inked a deal with DIRECTV to showcase European football and La Liga in Latin America by kicking off a tour of three friendly matches between the last week of July and first of August, in three different locations in South America.

“It gives me satisfaction to be able to present the agreement we have reached with DIRECTV PanAmericana, to organize a 2013 pre-season international tour for Atletico Madrid,” said club president Enrique Cerezo, speaking from Estadio Vicente Calderon in Madrid. “It is a privilege that we have been chosen among many teams in Europe.”

Jacopo Bracco, president of DIRECTV PanAmericana, said: “We are pleased to have reached this agreement in Latin America with one of the most prominent Spanish football teams. This alliance reinforces DIRECTV sports leadership in the territories in which we operate, providing the highest coverage of major sporting events worldwide, including exclusive content, together with the best technology with digital broadcasts, HD, 3D and live streaming for subscribers.”

viagra buy | helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;”>Inside sources say Manchester United will opt for a US IPO rather than list in Hong Kong or Singapore.

The club had been interested in floating shares in Hong Kong or Singapore but several companies have recently pulled listings in Singapore in recent weeks because of market volatility and Manchester United may follow suit.

“This could have negative implications for Singapore’s aim to build a cluster of international sports names listed here,” said Ng Soo Nam, Singapore-based chief investment officer at Nikko Asset Management Asia Ltd., which oversees about $165 billion. “Such listings would have helped broaden the breadth of the Singapore market.”

Opting not to list in Asia could cost the club an opportunity to exploit the rapidly growing Asian football market.

Bankers working with Manchester United say the club has not made a final decision on where to list.

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The Womens Tennis Association has renewed Stacey Allaster deal as chief executive to 2017 putting her in line to become the longest serving female in women’s tour history.

American native Allaster, said: “For us to have this stability allows our organization to stay focused on growing the business. Players know me; tournaments know me; stakeholders in the industry and sponsors know me.We don’t have to spend time on me learning the business.”

Allaster served as tournament director of the Canadian Open before moving up the ranks of the WTA. She became chairman and CEO in July 2009.

The unanimous vote (7-0) to extend Allaster’s contract took place during board meetings last month in New York.

If she finishes her term, Allaster, 48, will trail only Jerry Diamond in longevity. Diamond ran the fledging WTA from 1974-86.

“She has a keen understanding of the business world, the future of the sport and is able to bridge all of the stakeholders, and does it all with compassion and commitment,” said WTA founder Billie Jean King in a statement.

Under her leadership, the tour has increased prize money, TV viewership and attendance at its biggest events. It has also secured new revenues of $80 million via new and old sponsors, such as Sony Ericsson and Chinese sportswear company Peak.

Total prize money will top $52 million in 2012 (not including Grand Slams), a 3% rise from this year and 48% higher than 2008. Meanwhile, it has lost just one tournament title sponsor.

Following a period in which many top players failed to show up at the tour’s biggest tournaments, player participation is up 24% and withdrawals are down 18% through October this year vs. 2008.

“I’m very happy with the players who have been healthy and have been able to meet their commitments,” Allaster said.

Allaster noted the explosion of social media as a big opportunity being exploited by the tour. She also said the WTA is in final stages of a new international broadcast deal with UK-based Perform that could double the number of live women’s matches across multiple platforms (smart phones, tablets, etc.).

She touted the tour’s year-end championships as a property that could be exploited to penetrate new markets. Organizers in Turkey are paying $42 million to host the elite, eight-player event in Istanbul for the next three years. It kicks off Tuesday.

“It is a perfect example of an asset we’re using to try to grow sport congruent with calendar,” she said.

The tour is also looking into launching a Challenger-level ($125,000) event in China.

WTA board member Steve Simon, the tournament director for the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, California, said: “Stacey has done a tremendous job in leading the WTA through a very difficult and challenging economic environment. Her innovative thinking has positioned the WTA for a very bright future.”

ESPN has reached a multimedia rights extension with Azteca América to air Liga MX, decease Mexico’s top national soccer league, order and football cup competition Copa MX in the United States through 2015.

This will be the first time Mexican club matches will air on ESPN’s English-language networks (ESPN2 and ESPNEWS).  The agreement also adds more matches on ESPN Deportes and extends highlights rights across ESPN’s English-language and Spanish-language studio programming and digital platforms.

With the expansion, ESPN Deportes will televise over 60 Liga MX games through the 2013 season.

ESPN’s English-language coverage kicks off the weekend of March 8-10, with the first match airing Friday, March 8: Morelia vs. América on ESPNEWS at 8:30 p.m. ET.

The Liga MX is the most important soccer league in Mexico and includes 18 first division clubs.

The Copa MX is Mexico’s top soccer cup competition and includes the top first and second division clubs. Formerly known as the Copa Tower and Copa Eliminatoria, the event went on hiatus from 1997 to 2012 when it was revived by the Liga MX.

Russia will appeal UEFA’s decision to dock the team six points in qualifying for the next European Championship if their fans misbehave again, the Russian soccer federation said on Thursday.

The federation said in a statement on its website: “…the Russian soccer federation is entitled to prepare and submit a written appeal against UEFA’s decision and this will be done within the allotted time for this procedure,” 

UEFA acted after disturbances at Russia’s opening Euro 2012 game against the Czech Republic last Friday where Russian fans set off and threw fireworks and displayed illicit banners at the Group A match in Wroclaw which Dick Advocaat’s team won 4-1.

John Mara owner of NFL Team New York Giants has been appointed chairman of the NFL Management Council, the league’s most powerful committee.

Commissioner Roger Goodell announced several changes to the leadership of league committees, with Mara replacing Panthers owner Jerry Richardson as head of the Management Council, which is the main NFL labor committee.

Goodell also has formed a committee on health and medical issues that will be chaired by 49ers owner John York. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, Falcons president Rich McKay, Packers president Mark Murphy and Mara also will serve on that group, called the Health and Safety Advisory Committee.

There have been few significant changes to the committees in recent years due to labor and other issues.

“Our committee structure has been very important and beneficial to the NFL over the years,” Goodell said. “It has allowed us to address and study complex issues in depth and present our clubs with comprehensive information and thoughtful recommendations.”

Most notable is the creation of the health and safety unit as the league deals with increasing concerns about the health of current and former players, and the dangers of the sport.

League spokesman Greg Aiello said: “Player health and safety has been a key focus of the league for decades. An ownership level committee will support and oversee all of our work in this area that is critical to the future of the game.”

Other new committee chairmen are Texans owner Bob McNair (finance), Jaguars owner Wayne Weaver (investment), Steelers president Art Rooney (stadium), Chargers president Dean Spanos (business ventures), Bengals executive Katie Blackburn ( Super Bowl advisory), Chiefs owner Clark Hunt (international) and Jones (Hall of Fame).

McNair said: “I’m honored that commissioner Goodell has asked me to serve in this capacity. The finance committee is one of the most important committees in the NFL. We have many challenges facing us in the future and I look forward to working with the commissioner and staff and other members of the committee as we do our financial planning to continue to be a successful enterprise going forward.

“Fortunately, I’ve been on the committee for a number of years and so I am familiar with its workings and so I don’t see there will be much of a transition to move from being a member of the committee to being the chairman.”

Stepping down as chairmen are Saints owner Tom Benson (finance), Broncos owner Pat Bowlen (labor), McNair (investment), Weaver (business ventures), Bears chairman Mike McCaskey (Super Bowl advisory and Hall of Fame), and York (international). Of course, McNair, Weaver and York are taking on similar duties with other committees.

Staying on as chairs are Patriots owner Robert Kraft (broadcast), McKay (competition), Falcons owner Arthur Blank (audit and compensation), Saints executive Rita LeBlanc (employee benefits), Cardinals president Michael Bidwill (stadium security and fan conduct), Jones (NFL Network), Patriots executive Jonathan Kraft and Redskins owner Dan Snyder (digital media), Colts owner Jim Irsay (legislative), and Blackburn (workplace diversity).

In light of continued media speculation regarding the management and governance of the Fiji Rugby Union (FRU) and the purpose of the International Rugby Board’s meeting with the Union next month, allergy the IRB feels that clarification is required around some assumptions.

The IRB does have concerns that the current situation could create instability and have a negative impact on the management of the Union and key IRB funded Development and High Performance programmes and also Rugby World Cup 2011 preparations. These concerns have been communicated to the Union, cheap who have fully assisted with our ongoing enquiries.

With IRB Chief Executive Mike Miller in New Zealand in early February for Rugby World Cup meetings there is a good opportunity to visit senior Union representatives and undertake a fact finding mission. Miller will be accompanied by IRB Regional General Manager for Oceania William Glenwright, drugs who oversees the implementation of the IRB funded programmes in the Pacific Islands.

It would be inappropriate to comment on the validity of any media assumptions regarding the Union’s management or governance until the visit has been completed and a full assessment undertaken.