The Olympic Park Legacy Company is thinking about events beyond the Games by bringing in Clive Little as director of events and programming.

Little has more than 20 years of experience in delivering events and venue programming, malady delivering global event solutions for the likes of Motorola, try Vodafone and Yahoo!

Little, previously global events director of the Cake agency within Havas, said: “I am excited about the prospect of working on a prolific range of diverse events and activities helping bring the future Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park to life.

“We have already begun to map out opportunities so we can have a fantastic programme of activities when the Park re-opens in 2013. This summer we will be calling for applications of expressions of interest to host events ranging from major events to local community festivals on the Park.”

The African Cup of Nations (AFCON) local organising committee (LOC) and the SABC announced the conclusion of a R65m broadcast deal covering TV and radio for the tournament in South Africa this year.

LOC CEO Mvuso Mbebe said the R65m fee was fair and reasonable under the circumstances and satisfied all parties concerned.

“This is a CAF [Confederation of African Football] tournament, it must be remembered,” said Mbebe.

“All agreements were made in conjunction with Africa’s controlling (soccer) body and this was the reason there were delays at times, as all the parties involved had to be consulted.”

Mbebe said the quality of the service provided by the SABC for the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) would be “world class”. Most of the facilities and equipment built for the 2010 World Cup would be used.

“We have proven ourselves time and again as capable to provide a top-class service for an international event of this stature,” SABC acting chief operations officer Hlaudi Motsoeneng said.

The SABC would provide live coverage of all the games during the 23-day event. It would start on Saturday, January 19, with a game between Bafana Bafana and Cape Verde at the 90 000-seater National Stadium in Johannesburg.

The final would be played at the same venue on February 10.

Kevin Scott, a former Scotland international badminton player, has been elected as director of marketing at Badminton Europe’s annual meeting in Vantaa, Finland.

Scott replaces Germany’s Christine Skropke and will bring a strong business background to the role from his position as executive director of international business development at leading investment fund group, Jupiter Asset Management, covering Europe, Asia and other key markets.

Scott’s candidature was supported by UK Sport and Badminton England, whose chief executive Adrian Christy said: “This is a tremendous achievement for Kevin and for Badminton England.

“England is a proud member nation of Badminton Europe and a Council position comes with great responsibility. 

“In Kevin, we have someone who has both the business background and the international badminton experience to add great value to support the growth and success of European badminton.

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank UK Sport for their support in this campaign and for our wider international strategy.

“England has secured one of the most ambitious and exciting trilogies of major events leading into a home Olympics, including this summer’s Yonex BWF World Badminton Championships, a Council position on the Badminton World Federation for former world doubles champion Nora Perry, and now a Council position within Badminton Europe, all within the space of four years.

“I look forward to England playing a key role in the exciting evolution of our great game for many years to come”.

Chris Harvey, the international relations adviser at UK Sport, added: “Key decisions in International Sport Federations are made in the meetings of their elected Council or Executive Boards, less and less in the debating rooms of congresses and annual general meetings.

“It is vital for our national governing bodies to gain representation in these forums so they can be a part of the major decisions that shape their sport.

“I am delighted for Kevin Scott and for Badminton England to have won this election through the successful implementation of a well-planned and strategic campaign.

“Gaining this position will help to increase Badminton England’s international influence at an important time for the sport.”

Scott’s ability to discuss a variety of dynamic aspects and developments, in different countries and continents will be invaluable to European badminton and he spoke of his appointment, saying: “Following nomination by Badminton England, I am delighted to have been elected to the position of marketing director for Badminton Europe, especially as we are in the build-up to the London Olympics which offers significant momentum for development.”

Pay TV operator, arthritis Sky Deutschland and Deutsche Telekom have signed a cooperation agreement that will see the complete Sky offering made available to Deutsche Telekom’s Entertain TV customers from this summer.

The deal will see Deutsche Telekom offering Sky’s Bundesliga football offering as well as the wider Sky sports offering including the UEFA Champions League, medicine Europa League and DFB Cup. Deutsche Telekom will also offer the Sky World, pills Sky Movies and Sky HD offerings to its customers.

The agreement runs from this year until mid-2017 and the pair will engage in joint marketing initiatives. Entertain customers will be able to sign up for Sky packages at the same price and with the same package structure as that currently offered by Sky to its own customers.

The Breeders’ Cup Board of Directors have announced that they have voted Tom Ludt, President of the Thoroughbred racing and breeding operation Vinery Ltd., as Board Chairman to replace William Farish Jr. who stepped down at its meeting yesterday, April 15.

Ludt, who has been a Director since 2009, will serve a two-year term while Farish will remain on the board as a Director and Ludt stated: “Being elected Chairman of the Breeders’ Cup is both a great honor and significant responsibility. I believe the innovations of the last few years, including our expansion to two days and 14 races and our continued focus on the international aspects of our competition will serve the Breeders’ Cup well as we strive to find new ways to strengthen the organization and our game as a whole.”

Farish added: “I have enjoyed my five years as Chairman overseeing a period of remarkable growth and expansion of the Breeders’ Cup program on a global scale. It has been a privilege to serve our nominators, whose continued funding and support have been invaluable to our organization and our industry.”

Head of Switzerland’s National Hockey League (NHL) Werner Augsburger is to quit his role in order to take up the position of sporting director of the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics and Paralympics, it was announced today.

Augsburger, 52, will start his new role in September and claimed it was a chance too good to miss, stating: “The confidence placed in me by the Russian Organising Committee is a great honour.

“As a longtime sports official in various management functions, this offers a unique opportunity.

“It is probably comparable to a Swiss ice hockey player who gets the chance to play in the [North American] National Hockey League.”

Augsburger has held a number of top roles in sport, including being Switzerland’s Chef de Mission at three consecutive Olympics – the Summer Games in Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008 and the Winter Games in Turin 2006.

He was also the chief of logistics of the Swiss team at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.

Taj Television-owned Ten Sports has secured the broadcast rights to televise WTA Premier tournaments for India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka from 2013 to 2016.

In addition to the television rights, Ten Sports has also acquired the rights to distribute the matches on mobile and internet technology.

As part of the deal Ten Sports will be telecasting 110 matches every year including Semi Final and Final from each of the WTA’s 22 Premier tournaments, including the year-end WTA Championships.

Ten Sports CEO Atul Pande said, “As we continue to expand our content for viewers in South Asia, we’re delighted to add outstanding WTA women’s tennis tournaments from around the world.” Women’s tennis is one of the fastest growing sports in India and we are privileged to be a part of its success.

The WTA acquisition add to the existing strong line-up of tennis programming on TEN Sports , which includes US Open, Aircel Chennai Open, ATP 1000 and 500 Tournaments.

The 2013 WTA competitive season starts with the Brisbane International from 3-6 January and concludes with the TEB BNP Paribas WTA Championships in Istanbul, Turkey, 22-27 October, and the Tournament of Champions in Sofia, Bulgaria, 29 October – 3 November.

The British Horseracing Authority (BHA) has strengthened its Board with the appointment of two new Directors in the shape of Nicholas Jones, appointed as an Independent Non-Executive Director, and racehorse trainer Mark Johnston, appointed as the Horsemen’s Member Nominated Director.

Additionally, Justin Wadham moves from Johnston’s new position to become a third Independent Non-Executive Director, with all the appointments receiving unanimous support of the Nominations Committee, current Board members and the Authority’s four Member organisations.

Nicholas Jones is a Steward of the Jockey Club and owns Coln Valley Stud near Cirencester where he has nine mares and also several horses in training. He was a Managing Director and Vice Chairman of investment bank Lazard until June 2010.

Mark Johnston is well known as one of the country’s leading flat trainers. He is also a veterinary surgeon by profession, having qualified from Glasgow University Veterinary School in 1983 and he worked in general practice for three years before obtaining a licence to train.

Paul Roy, Chairman of the BHA, stated: “These two new appointments bring a broad range of skills and experience to an already experienced Board. Nicholas has spent years in senior positions in the worlds of finance and betting. As a breeder and owner, and a former director of one of Britain’s premier racecourses, he understands the sport from many viewpoints and I am delighted that he has agreed to become a Director.

“Mark needs little introduction and he has strong views on a wide range of subjects, It is testament to his passion for the sport and for the horse that he is finding the time to take up this position. His experience and knowledge will be an asset to the Board.

Nicholas Jones said: “It is a privilege to join the Board of the regulator of Britain’s second biggest sport and to help with the challenges ahead.

“Apart from the BHA’s continuing role in ensuring the highest standards of integrity in racing, there is the need to implement reform of decision making structures within the industry; the racing industry must be an attractive sport in which to participate and must preserve its international competitiveness.”

Mark Johnston added: “I think it is vital in any business to have a very strong understanding of the product and I hope I can bring this to the BHA board. I am looking forward to the challenge.”

SuperSport have signed a broadcast rights deal with the SA Football Association (SAFA), and will broadcast all home and away friendly matches which Bafana Bafana participate in during 2013.

“The World of Champions is very pleased to add SAFA’s content to our wide array of football and other sport,” SuperSport CEO Happy Ntshingila said in a statement.

“This is an extremely significant year for Bafana and we are proud that our subscribers will be able to support our national team through our exclusively live and high-definition broadcasts.”

The agreement includes pay broadcast rights to other Bafana matches that SAFA has jurisdiction over, Banyana Banyana fixtures, men’s and women’s national age-group teams, and other SAFA content, including development and grassroots soccer.

The deal would commence with the important Bafana AFCON warm-up fixtures to be played against Norway in Cape Town and Algeria in Soweto on January 8 and 12, respectively.

SAFA development agency CEO Robin Petersen said the deal was long overdue.

“We have wished for some time to have our product broadcast by SuperSport, which is a leading and world-class sports broadcaster.

“The revenue derived from this deal will assist SAFA with its development plans and afford substantial further exposure for our brand on the various platforms that SuperSport broadcasts on.”