Glasgow Rangers FC owner Craig Whyte has vowed to step down as chairman once the club comes out of administration.

The Scottish champions were forced to call in the administrators last Tuesday over an unpaid tax bill of £9million accrued since Whyte’s takeover of Sir David Murray’s majority shareholding last May.

Rangers are also awaiting the outcome of the first tier tax tribunal, the so-called ‘big tax case’ relating to Employee Benefit Trusts payments made during Murray’s regime, which was initially believed could result in a bill of £49million, although Whyte has claimed the amount could be as much as £75million.

As well as stepping down as chairman, Whyte has also indicated he will consider the possibility of “gifting” the majority of his shares to supporters.

Speaking in a statement yesterday, he said: “I will not continue as Rangers chairman post-restructuring.

“Regardless of administration and irrespective of the tax case, the club had serious long-term structural problems financially and they needed to be addressed with some urgency.

“I knew that when I stepped up to the plate and, despite the accusations and abuse that I have suffered over weeks and months, I was determined to see things through.

“I will admit there have been times when I have wished that I had never entertained the idea of taking over Rangers.

“But I am a Rangers fan, and, like other Rangers fans, I don’t do walking away.”

He added: “If I can succeed in coming through this administration process I am very keen on the idea of gifting the majority of my shares to a supporters’ foundation.

“It makes a lot of sense, but fan ownership would work only after the current process is completed because the club has to get into a position where it is running at break-even in order for that prospect to be viable.

“I am open to all serious offers of outside investment. Indeed, I am currently in active discussion with a number of potential bidders and investors.”

Discuss what’s next for Scottish football here

by Ismail Uddin

The West Indies Cricket Board today announced that Taj TV Limited has acquired television broadcast rights for West Indies Cricket for a period of 7 years from January 2013.

Taj TV has acquired global television broadcast rights except for the terrestrial broadcast rights within the Caribbean along with production rights.

As part of the deal Taj TV Limited will be providing the television production for free-to-air stations throughout the Caribbean for the benefit of West Indies cricket fans. Taj TV will be showcasing 253 days of international cricket as part of the new rights deal.

“We are extremely delighted to continue our long standing association with Taj TV Limited who has been our media rights partner previously and with whom we have had a solid and mutually beneficial relationship, capsule ” President of the West Indies Cricket Board Dr. Julian Hunte said.

“The West Indies Team has just won the ICC World Twenty20 and the diverse cricket world who hold our team in high esteem will have added demand to see them play in the ensuing years. We are therefore pleased that we have secured this arrangement with this globally reputable company to distribute the media rights to allow fans around the world to see our champion team live and in living colour as they make further strides in world cricket,” Dr. Hunte added.

Mr Atul Pande, CEO Ten Sports said, “We are extremely delighted to extend our association with the West Indies Cricket Board. This deal underscores our commitment to building our cricket business in the subcontinent and globally. The recent upsurge in the West Indies Team quality further reinforces our view about our relationship with West Indies cricket going forward.”

The parties have agreed, on account of confidentiality clauses, not to publicly disclose the monetary value of the contract.

The highly anticipated inaugural Indian Premier League Soccer (PLS) campaign has been postponed because of problems with the venues.

The League is to feature the likes of World Cup winner Fabio Cannavaro, apoplectic former France international Robert Pires and Liverpool legend Robbie Fowler, order the six-team competition was set to begin on March 24, but will now be pushed back.

“Discussion is on with the state government but even if it is sorted out by the end of this week, we would need time to prepare the fields,” Dharamdutt Pandey, CEO of the event management company which created PLS, told Reuters.

“These are minor issues and PLS is very much on. We are now targeting a mid-April start for the league. It would require at least one month to upgrade the stadiums to an international standard. So we are now looking at mid-April.”

Modelled on the successful Indian Premier League (IPL) Twenty20 cricket tournament, the football competition follows a similar nine-team motor racing league which was forced to defer the 12-race competition to next year because of logistical issues.

by Ismail Uddin

TV Media Sport has been appointed to distribute the TV and marketing rights as well as the media rights for the next IAAF World Championships, Moscow, 2013 in 48 territories throughout sub‐saharan Africa.

Max Kallberg, CEO of the Swedish media company IEC in Sports, and Hédi Hamel, President of TV Media Sport, signed the contract in Monaco for the IAAF World Championships, Moscow, 2013 together with other events organised by the International Athletics Federation / IAAF.

TV Media Sport will be distributing a dedicated signal with commentary in both English and French. They will also produce a daily highlights package as well as a three minutes news edition.

Since the successful commercialisation and distribution of the last UEFA Football Championships, TV Media Sport is expanding its TV programming offer to the TV partners in Africa with a wide range of sport events.

“We are very happy that TVMS has come on board as our latest partner in Africa and that our sales strategy for the continent continues to bear fruit.” said Nick Haigh, Chairman of the International Board of IEC in Sports. ‘We remain focused on assisting the IAAF in realising the developmental and commercial potential of the sport and we are looking forward to working closely with TVMS to maximise the exposure for the IAAF’s premium athletics events.”

Glasgow Rangers FC owner, Craig Whyte has admitted he used the payment for future season ticket sales from Ticketus, the company backed by Octopus Investments’ Protected EIS, to complete the takeover of the club.

Last Friday Octopus released a statement saying it is working with the administrators of Rangers FC after one of its investments, Ticketus, was caught up in the debacle.

Ticketus paid £24m for tickets over the next three seasons’ games but Rangers’ administrators revealed the money could not be traced in the club accounts.

Whyte has released another statement revealing the season ticket income was used “to complete the takeover of the club” and that he is personally in line for repayment.

According to a report in the Herald Scotland, the statement said: “The arrangement with Ticketus was originally to provide additional working capital, as had been the case previously under the old board. My corporate advisers came to me with the proposition that it was entirely possible, as well as highly beneficial, to negotiate a deal with Ticketus that would allow us to complete the takeover and maximise working capital for the club’s day-to-day business.

“The Ticketus deal was by far the best way to protect the club given the circumstances, in that they have no security over any assets. The only person at risk from the deal is me personally because I gave Ticketus personal and corporate guarantees underwriting their investment; the club and the fans are fully protected. In terms of exposure, I am personally on the line for £27.5m in guarantees and cash.”

He was also keen to defend speculation he was using the deal or the club for personal gain.

“Any suggestion that I am trying to make a fast buck or have indulged in illegal manoeuvring is clearly ludicrous.”

It is feared that if Rangers is taken over, any future season ticket sales would be unavailable to Ticketus.

Last week’s statement from Octopus said: “Ticketus is one of the many entities into which Octopus Protected EIS invests. Ticketus has purchased tickets for Glasgow Rangers games for a number of seasons in advance, as it has done for a number of years previously with the club.

“Ticketus does not lend money; Ticketus is the owner of assets – the tickets. Octopus is continuing to work with the administrators and Glasgow Rangers on this matter. We have no plans to make any further comments at this stage.”

Administrators Duff & Phelps said they are trying to recover a £24m payment or loan from Ticketus for advanced season ticket sales which appears to have disappeared from accounts.

David Whitehouse, a managing director at Duff & Phelps, said at the time it was believed the payment was made to a parent company account rather than the club’s account, and they were checking with lawyers that have worked for the firm in the past , according to the BBC.

Octopus owns the £100m company Ticketus in its £500m Protected Enterprise Investment Scheme and used to hold it in its secure VCT, although the group confirmed this investment was closed a few months ago.

Octopus’ company literature described Ticketus as “an example of a VCT qualifying company that has the characteristics that we will seek for investments. All the investments we make are into companies with lower risk business models.”

by Ismail Uddin

The Premier League has announced that FOX Sports International and ESPN have been awarded the live audio visual broadcast rights for all 380 Barclays Premier League matches per season for the 2013/14 to 2015/16 seasons in Brazil.

Premier League Chief Executive, Richard Scudamore, said:“We are extremely pleased that FOX Sports and ESPN have once again invested in our live rights in Brazil.

“We look forward to working with both organisations as they continue to deliver a premium offering that showcases the Barclays Premier League to our Brazilian fans.”

VP FOX Sports in Brazil, Eduardo Zebini, said: “The partnership offers more possibilities for the Brazilian FOX Sports’ fans to follow this important international competition, allowing the public greater relationship with their idols playing at English clubs.”

Managing Director of ESPN in Brazil, Germán Hartenstein, said: “We are very excited to renew the broadcast rights to the Barclays Premier League. We have a tradition of covering the event with a team of expert journalists and on-location broadcasts that have contributed to the increase of English football’s popularity in Brazil. This three-year agreement, covering 2013 to 2016, shows ESPN’s commitment to providing Brazilian sports fans the best coverage of English football, one of the most coveted in the world.”

Manchester United’s second-quarter profit rose 31 percent as the defending Premier League soccer champions reduced its finance costs and paid less tax.

Net income was £10.5 million ($16.6 million) in the three months ended Dec. 31, pharmacy compared to £8 million in the year-earlier period, sickness MU Finance Plc said today in its website. Net finance costs declined £3 million to £12.2 million, see while revenue rose 8.7 percent to £101.3 million.

The record 19-time English champion benefited from a sponsorship deal with shipping company DHL and extra broadcast income. Commercial revenue rose 14 percent to 29 million pounds. The team reduced debt by £69 million to £439 million and was left with £50.9 millions in cash and equivalents at the end of the period.

United, which leads Real Madrid as soccer’s most valuable brand according to a report by Brand Finance Plc, got approval from Singapore’s stock exchange in September to raise about $1 billion in an initial public offering. The team hasn’t set a date for the sale.

United has continued to repurchase its bonds, and bought £5.3 million worth in the quarter. It now owns £92.8 million of its senior secured notes. The team will continue to hold them and they may be sold back to the market depending on the club’s needs, it said today.

In the six-month period, United’s commercial revenue rose 16.3 percent to £58.6 million on the accord for DHL to sponsor its training uniform, a profit-sharing agreement with jersey supplier Nike Inc. and other sponsorships. The DHL contract is worth £40 million over four years.

Media income rose 13.4 percent to £60.9 million on a bigger share of broadcast revenue from Champions League organizer UEFA, while ticket and hospitality sales at Old Trafford rose 5.9 percent to 55.5 million pounds.

United’s broadcast share increased because it won the Premier League. Coach Alex Ferguson’s team dropped out of this season’s Champions League after the group phase for the first time in six years.

Staff costs rose 14.7 percent to £76.5 million on higher player salaries and employees hired to support the growth of United’s sponsorship and commercial operations. Net finance costs almost doubled to £31.6 million, in the six month period.

by Ismail Uddin

The Klitschko brothers have confirmed their superstar status in Germany by inking a €15 million ($19.5m) deal with the RTL network, buy according to reports.

The German TV outfit will pay €3 million ($4m) for each fight involving either of the brothers, prescription fuelling speculation that Vitali is set to continue in the sport. Wladimir is set to defend his WBO, IBF, WBA and IBO belts on November 10th against Mariusz Wach, and there is talk he could face Seth Mitchell, Denis Boytsov or even David Haye next. 

 

Wie die Münchner Abendzeitung berichtet, no rx fehlen dem EHC München durch die Insolvenz von Müller-Brot in der kommenden Saison 100.000 Euro. ”

Den Schlusspfiff bei Hauptsponsor Müller-Brot gab es bereits unter der Woche, herbal er wird dem EHC zur neuen Saison verloren gehen. Bereits jetzt ist bei der Bäckerei-Kette kein Geld mehr vorhanden, abortion die Wiederaufnahme der Produktion wurde erneut ausgesetzt.

EHC-Präsident Jürgen Bochanski bestätigte noch einmal: „Müller-Brot hat alles bezahlt, wir können nur abwarten, was passiert.”

In der vergangenen Saison zierte das Logo des insolventen Unternehmens noch das EHC-Trikot als Brustsponsor, aktuell ist nur noch der Schriftzug „München“ auf der Vorderseite der Trikots zu sehen. 

Zum Glück haben wir vier Großsponsoren, also noch drei weitere“, so Bochanski weiter. „Im Gesamten können wir das verkraften.“. Neben Müller-Brot zählen die Unternehmen Aktiv Assekuranz, Canadian Solar sowie FTI Touristik zu den weiteren Großsponsoren des Eishockeyclubs.

 

The Premier League has announced that Super Sports Media Group has been awarded the exclusive live audio visual broadcast rights for all 380 Barclays Premier League matches per season for seasons 2013/14 – 2018/19 in Mainland China and Macau.

Premier League Chief Executive, buy Richard Scudamore, tadalafil said: “We have worked with Super Sports Media Group for the last two years and are extremely pleased to extend our partnership until 2019. They will continue to deliver a premium offering that will showcase the Barclays Premier League to our many fans in Mainland China and Macau.

“The main reason for agreeing a six year partnership with Super Sports is our recognition of their innovative and successful business model and that their coverage and reach makes our matches available to fans in all provinces across Mainland China and Macau.”

Mr. Jianguang Li, allergy board member of Super Sports Media Group added: “The Premier League has developed a profound understanding of the sports broadcasting market in China and we are very pleased to have formed this long-term partnership with them.

“This agreement demonstrates the Premier League’s strong commitment towards China and Chinese football fans. It will further increase the Premier League’s profile in China and give them the opportunity to make it one of their fastest growing markets.”