English Premier League soccer club Sunderland AFC have confirmed the appointment of legal director Margaret Byrne as the club’s new CEO following a restructuring of its executive board.

Byrne has been promoted from her position of legal director and club secretary, which she was appointed to in 2007.

Speaking to the club’s official website about the deal, chairman Niall Quinn said: “Margaret has been a true driving force at the club since her appointment here more than four years ago and the fact that the club has gone from strength to strength on and off the pitch in that period is no coincidence.

“She has enormous passion for our football club and as its CEO, she will continue with the fantastic work that has gone before and will play a key role as the club continues to grow.”

Byrne has been shortlisted for the UK solicitor of the year award and is a member of the Premier League’s Legal Advisory Group.

She was strongly involved with transfers at the Stadium of Light in her previous role and that involvement will now grow further in line with her promotion.

Sunderland have also appointed Angela Lowes as finance director as part of the board restructuring.

David Beckham’s, former England soccer captain, success on the field and appeal to sponsors have made him an estimated fortune of £160 million to put him top of the Sunday Times Sport Rich List published this weekend.

Beckham, now 37 and playing for LA Galaxy, is one of 48 soccer players past and present in the list of the 100 richest current and former sportsmen in Britain and Ireland.

London-born Beckham hopes to make the Team GB squad to play in the Olympics in his home city this summer.

The Sunday Times also ranked Beckham 10th in its list of the world’s richest sports figures, a group led by golfer Tiger Woods with an estimated 538 million pounds.

Woods was followed by German Formula One driver Michael Schumacher and former basketball player Michael Jordan.

Russian Maria Sharapova was the world’s richest sportswoman, worth £55 million. Sharapova, like Beckham, has augmented her earnings from sport with lucrative fashion and other endorsements.

No current British or Irish swimmer, cyclist or track and field athlete made the top 100, something that might change over the course of this Olympic year. There were no past or present sportswomen among the top 100 on the British and Irish list.

Not all the figures on the list are household names.

Behind Beckham in second spot was former rugby union player Paul Caddick, who now runs a property and construction company and is chairman of rugby league club Leeds Rhinos.

The Football Association (FA) of England has announced the appointment of Stuart Turner to the position of group commercial director.

Turner has been acting as interim director for The FA Group, viagra 40mg and has overseen the appointment of both Vauxhall and Budweiser as lead partners for the England team and The FA Cup respectively.

Speaking of the appointment, sales FA general secretary Alex Horne said: “I am pleased to announce that Stuart Turner has been appointed as group commercial director.”

“Stuart has been acting up in this role for 15 months and has demonstrated an ability to deliver big deals in our two lead sponsorship positions.

“This, allergist coupled with his excellent knowledge and standing within The FA Group, has made him an outstanding choice for the role.”

Turner expressed his joy at his permanent appointment, adding: “I’m delighted to have been given the mandate by The FA executive to run our commercial operation.

“Having undertaken the role, I’m now looking to implement a structure and augment our existing partner programme to take us to the World Cup in 2014 and beyond.”

The FA will offer harsh penalties against players who use Twitter and other social networking sites to criticise match officials.

The news comes in the same week that controversial QPR captain Joey Barton announced his return to Twitter after what he called a ‘sabbatical’

Disciplinary chiefs have warned that internet posts will now be treated as public comment, and are therefore susceptible to the same rules as if they appeared in newspapers, on radio or on TV.

The FA have sent written warnings to all licensed agents after numerous complaints against attacks on referees. Players have been told that deleting posts or claiming that their account was accessed by another are no longer acceptable defences.

The letter states: “An individual is strictly responsible for any posting on his/her account.

“Participants should take every care to ensure that others do not access their account, as the fact that a posting or comment may have been made by a third party will not prevent disciplinary action being taken against the account holder.”

The letter goes on: “Any comments which are improper, bring the game into disrepute or are threatening, abusive, indecent or insulting may lead to disciplinary action. Comments about match officials which imply bias, attack the officials’ integrity or are overly personal in nature are considered improper.”

Any comments about a person’s ethnic origin, colour, race, nationality, faith, gender, sexual orientation or disability ‘may be considered aggravated and attract a higher disciplinary sanction’ warns the letter.

Even re-tweeting another person’s post could lead to disciplinary action, while deleting an improper posting will not prevent action being taken.

Pitch has hired former London & Partners director Heidi Truman to lead the sports marketing agency’s events and experiential division.

The division, which was launched in January, has already delivered major projects in 2011 for Heineken UK, Royal Ascot and Sported.

With other high profile events already lined up for 2012, Truman’s expertise of London and the Olympic Games, working with key commercial partners as well as managing key event projects for London & Partners made her an ideal candidate to lead the team.  

The proposition for Pitch’s events team is integrated with the broader communications offer of the agency and Truman will be working to develop this further with both existing and new clients.    

Juliet Slot, managing director of Pitch, said: “We are delighted to have Heidi joining the Pitch team. Her experience within the events sector is exceptional and she will bring a wealth of knowledge and contacts to the agency.

“Her knowledge of the London landscape will also prove extremely beneficial for any existing or new clients as we head into a huge sporting year for the capital.

“With the new division already having delivered first class events for a range of clients, Heidi’s appointment will act to further enhance the range of skills on offer.”

The National Hockey League’s Nashville Predators have extended their broadcast deal with regional television partner FOX Sports Tennessee, mind along with sister station SportSouth.

Under the new agreement, FOX Sports Tennessee and SportSouth will televise a minimum of 75 Nashville Predators regular-season games beginning in the 2013-14 season, reaching over 4 million cable and satellite households across Tennessee, Kentucky and northern portions of Alabama and Mississippi.

The regional networks will televise 46 of the team’s 48 games in the current truncated season. FOX Sports Tennessee has been a Predators broadcast partner since the team’s inaugural season.

“To have a partner that recognizes the strength of the Predators brand and the importance of broadcasting in Nashville and across the southeast is tremendous,” Nashville Predators Executive Vice President Chris Parker said. “FOX Sports Tennessee and SportSouth are premier networks and this extension further solidifies the future of the Predators franchise. Following in the footsteps of other recently signed early extensions with existing partners, like Bridgestone Americas, this deal is a great indicator of our commitment to providing our fans – who tuned in at an all-time high last season – with a first-class experience when it comes to their team.”

“The Predators are a valued partner with a passionate and loyal following. We’re pleased to reach an agreement that will make FOX Sports Tennessee the home of Nashville Predators Hockey for many years to come,” said Jeff Genthner, Senior Vice President and General Manager of FOX Sports Tennessee and SportSouth. 

“To have a partner that recognizes the strength of the Predators brand and the importance of broadcasting in Nashville and across the southeast is tremendous,” Nashville Predators Executive Vice President Chris Parker said. “FOX Sports Tennessee and SportSouth are premier networks and this extension further solidifies the future of the Predators franchise. Following in the footsteps of other recently signed early extensions with existing partners, like Bridgestone Americas, this deal is a great indicator of our commitment to providing our fans – who tuned in at an all-time high last season – with a first-class experience when it comes to their team.”

“The Predators are a valued partner with a passionate and loyal following. We’re pleased to reach an agreement that will make FOX Sports Tennessee the home of Nashville Predators Hockey for many years to come,” said Jeff Genthner, Senior Vice President and General Manager of FOX Sports Tennessee and SportSouth.

Ratings for Nashville Predators telecasts on FOX Sports Tennessee and SportSouth increased 40 percent from the 2010-11 season to the 2011-12 season. The team’s 5.2 rating on SportSouth for Game Five of the 2012 Western Conference Quarterfinals against Detroit was the highest TV rating for a playoff game in franchise history, reaching 53,000 households. Keeping consistent with last year’s success, the Predators are averaging a 1.7 rating through the first several games of the season.

The FOX Sports Tennessee broadcast duo of play-by-play announcer Pete Weber and analyst Terry Crisp enter their 15th season calling Predators’ action. In addition to game telecasts, Weber and Crisp will co-host LEXUS Predators LIVE, an extended post-game coverage show after every game on FOX Sports Tennessee. Returning for his fifth season is Mark Howard, rinkside reporter for all Predators home games.

Starting this season, Predators fans will see increased and expanded programming with further integration of in-game elements such as inside-the-glass features and bench hits as well as a new semi-permanent broadcast location in the FOX Sports Tennessee Zone inside Bridgestone Arena. 

Fans will benefit from cutting edge TV technology, such as FOX-MO, the network’s super-slow-motion replay system. Predators players and personnel continue to be featured in FOX Sports Tennessee original programs such as Predators Snapshot.

English Conference North team Darlington FC has been bought by fans’ company Darlington FC 1883 (DFC 1883) in a deal which it is hoped will give the club a sustainable future.

DFC 1883 has agreed to buy the club’s assets and goodwill from administrator Harvey Madden.

The deal had gone through without a company voluntary arrangement in place, meaning creditors, including former chairman Raj Singh, will not get their money back and the club could face further sanction from the Football Association.

The new proposal of moving ahead without a CVA and playing away from the Arena is radically different to the original plan.

This has prompted the community company to begin the process of returning money to fans who bought shares through the Crowdcube funding system.

However, supporters will be urged to reinvest their money in the new plans, with DFC 1883 saying it needs at least £200,000 reinvested before the end of June.

It is understood Darlington Uncovered fans forum has already said the money it raised would be reinvested.

Darlington FC Supporters Club has also pledged to put its cash back in.

DFC 1883 said yesterday morning that it was ready to submit its offer for the club, however further complications emerged later in the day which prevented the purchase.

It is understood the complications surrounded the players wages and the 25 per cent of their salaries they have not been paid since the club was placed in administration.

DFC 1883 learnt on Wednesday that it would become liable for the unpaid wages once it took over.

In order for the purchase of the club to go ahead, members of DFC 1883 this morning contacted all players asking them to agree to temporarily waive the money they are owed, which is understood to total around £100,000.

Noel Le Graet was elected to replace Fernand Duchaussoy as president of the French Football Federation (FFF) after a difficult year for the body in relation to the national team’s dreadful performance at the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Le Graet received more than half of the votes cast in Saturday’s, June 18, election. despite not standing in the December vote which initially confirmed Duchaussoy in his post with 79.4% of the vote, Le Graet picked up 54.39% of the ballot on Saturday.

Le Graet is the president of Ligue 2 outfit Guingamp, is a former French League president and has been FFF vice-president since 2005, and told AFP: “My most important immediate task is to put Joel Muller (head of the French coaches association) to work to meet with the national coaches, to define a strategic plan and then to introduce a national technical director with a clear way forward.”

Jean-Pierre Escalettes resigned as FFF chief after the team returned from the finals in South Africa and Duchaussoy took over as interim head.

Le Graet’s term will run until December 2012, and he said: “One can lay down ones marker. Things will happen. After that people will decide once again for an important mandate which will take us up to the hosting of Euro 2016. And the federation will be far better off economically.”

Sky Germany have renewed their broadcast deal with Formula One until 2015.

Carsten Schmidt, doctor Chief Officer Sports, Advertising Sales & Internet, said: “After Sebastian Vettel delivered a hat-trick of wins now Sky with a hat-trick have cause for celebration for all Formula 1 fans. By extending our long-standing partnership in 2015 fans will be able to see the entire Grand Prix weekend live and in HD in the future only on Sky. “

Bernie Ecclestone, Formula One Group CEO: “I am delighted to continue our partnership with Sky in the future.” 

With Sky Go, Sky customers will still be able to pursue the fight for World Cham-pionship on their mobile, iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch and Xbox 360 and online at skygo.sky.de.

Irish soccer team, sale Glentoran, stomach financial problems have continued following their inability to pay players and staff for the month of April.

The Irish Prmiership club asked theIrish Football Association for a cash loan at a meeting on Wednesday afternoon. according to BBC Sport.

The club avoided being wound up last year thanks to a donation of around £450,000 from a mystery benefactor.

Glentoran needed that money to pay debts which included a huge tax bill.

Glentoran were actually celebrated a final day win their Premier league campaign but this news has flusterd them.

Glentoran previously had difficulties paying wages in July 2010.

The £450,000 payment from the mystery benefactor helped bail out the club in February 2011.

Last year, the Irish FA lent £233,000 to a number of Irish League clubs which was in effect an advance of prizemoney up to May of next year.

Glentoran are asking for either an advance of prize money for 2014, or else a straight loan from the Irish FA.