IMG Media, physician a division of IMG Worldwide, the global sports, fashion and media company, has agreed a new three-year deal with the Barclays Premier League for aeroplanes and ships rights.

The deal includes extensive coverage on Sport 24, the 24-hour live sports channel exclusively produced for the airline and cruise industry.

The new agreement covers the 2013/14, 2014/15 and 2015/16 seasons and will see the Barclays Premier League matches shown live and in highlights on specially-equipped Lufthansa and Gulf Air planes as well as Norwegian Cruise Liners (NCL). IMG Media is in ongoing discussions with a number of other airlines and cruise liner companies to expand the coverage.

Richard Wise, Senior Vice President, IMG Media, said: “The Barclays Premier League is the most popular and exciting league in world club football. It is in great demand by passengers worldwide and is also a tremendous asset for Sport 24. We are delighted to have extended our agreement for another three years.

“Our goal is to continue to distribute the very best live sports action to both these markets. With the launch of Sport 24 earlier this year we have featured some of the best sporting action within one channel. Events include the London 2012 Olympic Games, UEFA Euro 2012, the Ryder Cup, Bundesliga, Formula 1 , golf majors including The Masters and The Open, Grand Slam tennis from Wimbledon, Roland Garros and the Australian Open and, of course, the Barclays Premier League.”

Premier League Chief Executive, Richard Scudamore, said: “We know IMG well and are extremely pleased that they have chosen to invest in the Premier League’s exclusive aeroplanes and ships broadcasting rights.

“We look forward to working with them as they distribute the Barclays Premier League in a way that allows our fans to enjoy the competition while travelling overseas.”

Italian Serie A team AS Roma have signed a contract with the US giant Walt Disney corporation to train at its sports facilities in Florida, the club said on Monday.

“It’s a first step (for the club) in the United States, there will be others,” said club administrator Mark Pennes.

The six-year contract will see Roma train at the ESPN Wide World of Sports in Orlando during the Italian league’s winter break, as well as see the development of the club brand in the United States.

A number of major US teams already have a contract with Disney to use the facilities, including the Atlanta Braves baseball team, American football outfit Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Orlando Magic from basketball.

Roma, currently sixth in Serie A, are owned by US entrepreneur Tomaso DiBenedetto, who took over as president last year, ending 18 years of ownership by the Sensi family, first Franco and then his daughter Rosella.

by Ismail Uddin

CBS CEO Leslie Moonves has revealed that CBS Sport has appointed Sean McManus as the chairman of the broadcast division after overseeing both CBS News and CBS Sports since 2005.

The news comes as part of a reshuffle at the company with McManus leaving the News division altogether. “60 Minutes” Executive Producer Jeff Fager is now Chairman of CBS News. He’ll be working with the newly-hired David Rhodes, who was most recently head of U.S. Television for Bloomberg. Rhodes takes the title of President of CBS News.

Moonves tells the staff “these are three terrific executives, and our whole organization will benefit from their tremendous talent, dedication and experience.” The changes take place as of February 22. In radio, the CBS News Radio product is distributed by longtime partner Westwood One.

Australia’s Mens national soccer team, Qantas Socceroos’ East Asian Football Federation (EAFF) East Asia Cup 2013 qualifying matches will be streamed on Australian broadcaster SBS.

The EAFF East Asian Cup qualifiers for the men’s edition of the EAFF East Asian Cup 2013 are being played in Hong Kong from 1-9 December 2012 and will involve teams from Australia, Chinese-Taipei, Guam, Hong Kong & DPR Korea.

The teams that will participate in the EAFF East Asian Cup for men are Japan, Korea Republic & China PR with a fourth team determined by a qualification process. The qualifiers for the men’s edition of the EAFF East Asian Cup 2013 will be played in Hong Kong from 1-9 December 2012 and will involve teams from Australia, Chinese-Taipei, Guam, Hong Kong & DPR Korea.

The EAFF East Asian Cup 2013 will be held in Seoul, Korea Republic from 20-28 July 2013.

Portugal’s football federation has rejected a proposal to expand the country’s Premier League by two teams to 18 as it would undermines the sport’s integrity.

“The FPF says no to the proposal by the Professional Football League that wanted, in practice, no club relegations this season,” , FPF boss Fernando Gomes wrote in a statement.

Last week the Portuguese League for Professional Football (LPFP) had approved the entry of two additional teams to widen the Portuguese Premier League to 18 clubs.

However, the FPF said the proposal violated the credibility of Portuguese football and compromised the basic principles of open competition.

League boss Mario Figueiredo had told Reuters in an interview that it made sense to expand the top league in order to get extra revenue and capitalise on its potential.

by Ismail Uddin

Eurosport Asia-Pacific has acquired exclusive broadcast rights to up to 60 games of the Kontinental Hockey League per season.

The two-year agreement is a first for the top-tier Eurasian hockey league, order which has never before achieved a comparable amount of TV coverage in Asia.

The contract covers mobile and Internet rights on a non-exclusive basis.

The deal was negotiated by Infront Sports & Media. The agreement takes effect December 7 when CSKA Moscow plays Dynamo Moscow. The game will be broadcast live on Eurosport Asia-Pacific across 15 territories: Brunei, ambulance Cambodia, South Korea, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, Tonga and Vietnam.{jcomments on}

English Football League chairman Greg Clarke has ruled out weekend reports suggesting Celtic could be about to leave the SPL for League One or the Championship.

A report in a Sunday newspaper claimed the Glasgow giants were so keen to join English football that they were in secret talks over a move into League One – the third tier of the English set-up.

Club sources have insisted that is not the case and Clarke himself said it would be “disrespectful” to the Scottish football authorities to enter into any such talks.

“We have absolutely no intention of having any discussions with any club from another national league regarding membership of our competition, rx ” he added.

“This would be highly disrespectful to the Scottish FA and Scottish Premier League and will not be countenanced by the Football League.”

It had been suggested that exploratory talks had already begun over a sensational move which would see the Parkhead club leave behind 124 years of history in Scotland and begin life in League One.

Such a move would be a financial shot in the arm for lower league clubs south of the border and would offer Celtic a route into the Premier League.

But the idea has already met with opposition from some club chiefs in England.

Leyton Orient chairman Barry Hearn claimed it goes against Football League rules and said Celtic would be “destroying their own history” should they leave Scottish football.

by Ismail Uddin

Liverpool owners New England Sports Ventures have appointed global headhunters Spencer Stuart to begin a worldwide search for the club’s new chief executive.

Eurosport Asia-Pacific, one of the leading sports channels in the region, has acquired exclusive broadcast rights to up to 60 games of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) per season.

The agreement runs for two years and is a real first for the top-tier Eurasian ice hockey league – which has never before achieved a comparable amount of TV coverage in Asia. The contract also covers mobile and internet rights on a non-exclusive basis. It was negotiated by the international sports marketing company Infront Sports & Media, as part of a KHL mandate for the Asian market.

The games will be broadcast live on Eurosport Asia-Pacific across 15 territories: Brunei, Cambodia, South Korea, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, Tonga and Vietnam.

Featuring 26 clubs from Belarus, the Czech Republic, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Russia, Slovakia and the Ukraine, the 2012/13 KHL League season has already started in September and will run until April 2013. All games will be televised live in HD 16/9 quality with English commentary and will be also featured on Eurosport Asia-Pacific’s dedicated Web TV platform.

lya Kochevrin, KHL Vice President, Commerce and Communications, commented: “This agreement is an important step to further broaden the international KHL footprint and a great success of our collaboration with Infront. With its strong commitment to high-quality live coverage, Eurosport Asia now provides the perfect platform for fans across the attractive Asian markets to access first class ice hockey. During two consecutive seasons, we are now able to develop a sustained following across the region, for the benefit of the league and its commercial partners.”

Arjan Hoekstra, Managing Director of Eurosport Asia-Pacific, added: “We are delighted to become the exclusive pan-Asian broadcaster of the KHL especially at such an important moment for their development. We will help the KHL develop by providing extensive live HD coverage to all fans in Asia on a regular basis. With comprehensive coverage on TV, internet and mobile, Eurosport brings unrivalled broadcast to fans in Asia and consolidates its winter sports offer.”

Japan’s preparations to host Rugby World Cup 2019 have stepped up with the appointment of leading business figure Fujio Mitarai as President of the Organising Committee.

Mr Mitarai, Honorary President of the Japan Business Federation, Japan’s most powerful business lobby and current Chairman and CEO of Canon Inc. has been appointed by the Japan Rugby Football Union to preside over the development of the Organising Committee structure as Japan prepares to be the first Asian host of Rugby’s showcase tournament.

Former Japan Prime Minister, Chairman of the Japan Sports Association and President of the Japan Rugby Football Union Yoshiro Mori, Japan Business Federation (Keidanren) Vice Chairman Yoshio Nakamura, and President of the Japan Olympic Committee Tsunekazu Takeda were also unveiled as Vice President’s of the Organising Committee.  It was also announced that Koji Tokumasu, from Japan Rugby Football Union, will be General Manager.

Each will bring considerable government, business and sports event management experience to the Organising Committee, reflecting the JRFU’s commitment to delivering a world class tournament. Additional appointments of officials and senior management will follow over the coming months as tournament planning progresses.

Mr Mitarai told the press conference in Tokyo today that “business in Japan is right behind RWC 2019. We have seen Japan come together for FIFA 2002 World Cup, the Tokyo and Nagano Olympics and it is now necessary for our nation to again become ‘One big team’ and prepare to host Rugby World Cup.

“While sports has the power to move our hearts and make us one, the Rugby World Cup is more than just a sports event, it gives Japan the opportunity to share at political, trade and friendship levels with many other nations, ” Mitarai told journalists.

The announcement caps a year of significant progress for the JRFU as it continues to implement the foundations to deliver to a tournament which Japan, Asia and the global Rugby community can be proud of and which delivers the framework to accelerate the growth of Rugby throughout Asia.

“The success of hosting a world cup cannot be accomplished by the Japan Rugby Football Union alone, but working together as a nation and going toward the same goal utilizing experts in various areas as one ‘Team’ will be the best way to make it possible,”  Mori told the press conference.

“The establishment  of an Organising Committee ensures the success of a tournament that is supported in many areas.” Mori added.