Beleaguered Rangers chairman Craig Whyte has stepped down as secretary of a troubled stockbroking firm and two other companies to concentrate on the troubling affairs at the Glasgow-based club.

Sources close to the tycoon say he’s no longer at Bournemouth-based Pritchards Stockbrokers to avoid “another distraction” from recent events surrounding the administration-hit club.

Pritchards has been forced to halt business after falling foul of regulators.

Whyte was secretary and a minority shareholder in the firm.

The millionaire businessman has also resigned his posts at two other companies, Merchant Corporate Recovery and Merchant Strategic Renewal.

A source close to Mr Whyte said this did not suggest any involvement in what went wrong at Pritchards.

A statement by Pritchard said it was required by the regulator to freeze all client funds, and it was “taking professional advice to secure the best interest of our clients”.

Rangers were forced to call in administrators on Tuesday over an unpaid tax bill of £9 million accrued since Whyte’s takeover in May.

Last week, the administrators revealed they did not have “visibility” of £24 million which had come from a deal on future season ticket sales with the firm Ticketus.

They subsequently said they had new information on the takeover and running of Rangers which would help form a full picture of club finances.

Pitch International has secured new long-term contracts with Racecourse Media Group and Ascot Racecourse for the global distribution of their international TV rights.

The deals take effect on January 1, viagra 2013 and mean that the 33 RMG-managed racecourses and Ascot will benefit from increased global exposure delivered by Pitch International.

They do not include betting rights but encompass all territories with the exception of the Middle East, which is covered by recently-announced four-year deals between RMG, Ascot and Dubai Media Inc.

Television coverage will include Royal Ascot, QIPCO British Champions Day and the Betfair-sponsored King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes (all from Ascot), the Investec Derby Festival (Epsom), the QIPCO Guineas Festival (Newmarket), the Cheltenham Festival, the John Smith’s Grand National meeting (Aintree), York’s Ebor Festival, Glorious Goodwood and many other of Britain’s leading race meetings.

Racing UK’s Director of Business Development, Simon Brydon, said: “We believe that our new agreement with the team at Pitch International is an excellent opportunity to grow the distribution of RMG’s non-betting media coverage around the world. We very much look forward to working with the team at Pitch International.”

Jonathan Rogers, Managing Director of Pitch International, added: “We are delighted to be entering into these new long-term agreements with RMG and Ascot. The rights represent some of the world’s finest racing and we very much look forward to marketing these events to our broadcast partners.”

English Premier League’s Wigan Athletic FC  have revealed net loss rose by £3.2million last season but chief executive Jonathan Jackson believes the club’s overall results are “encouraging”.

Although the deficit for the 12 months ending May 21 2011 was up to £7.2m, for the first time in five years the Latics reported a profit in earnings before interest, tax and other associated areas. Figures released on Monday show turnover increased by 16% to £50.5m on the back of an improved Premier League broadcasting contract while salary costs remained stable.

The club’s net debt was almost unchanged at £72.2m, although more than half of that has since been converted to equity and therefore virtually written off what was owed to chairman Dave Whelan.

“Despite the increase in net loss the results overall are encouraging,” said Jackson in a statement. “By increasing turnover and controlling costs at the same levels as the previous year the club is continuing to progress to an annual break-even position.

“We continue to strive to maintain our position in the Barclays Premier League by significant investment in the playing squad whilst at the same time employing prudent financial management to ensure the club’s long-term stability.

“This position would not have been possible without the continued financial support of chairman David Whelan. The post year-end conversion of debt to equity has significantly strengthened the club’s financial position and has, to a very significant extent, written off the debt owed to Mr Whelan. The club cannot continue to make losses every year and we are continuing to shape all aspects of the club to ensure the long-term future remains positive both on and off the pitch.”

by Ismail Uddin

Melbourne Heart chairman Peter Sidwell has condemned Gold Coast United counterpart Clive Palmer’s comments critisizing the Australian A-League and his team.

Melbourne Victory chairman Anthony Di Pietro also expressed his disappointment at Palmer’s behaviour yesterday, joining Sidwell in calling for Football Federation Australia to deal with the situation swiftly.

Their comments came on another day of drama for the struggling A-League club.

Gold Coast chief executive Clive Mensink said coach Miron Bleiberg had been sacked, dismissing suggestions he had resigned.

Yesterday morning’s scheduled training session under new coach Mike Mulvey was cancelled, despite the team having a home game against Central Coast tomorrow night.

Palmer resumed his attack on the FFA yesterday, calling for chief executive Ben Buckley to be replaced.

Buckley said he would speak with Palmer about the club’s future, adding the FFA could strip a club’s licence if it had breached its “commitments and obligations”.

“But let’s not rush to any particular decision,” he said.

“We’ll take our time (and) evaluate the future of Gold Coast United over the next four to six weeks and the remainder of the season.

But first our priority is to make sure for the remainder of this season the integrity of the competition remains in place.”

Palmer has been attacked since he described the A-League as a “joke”, soccer a “hopeless game” and his club “insignificant” in a Sunday newspaper article.

Sidwell said Palmer’s comments were “disappointing and unhelpful”.

“While there will always be different views as to the best way to go about developing football, one cannot question the great progress made in recent years,” he said.

“In my view, any differences of view ought to be confined to a discussion with those responsible rather than venting through a media release.

“It’s probably incumbent on the national body now to address the matter to ensure that all parties’ issues are resolved in whatever form that takes.”

Di Pietro agreed.

“It is a difficult and less than desirable situation for all involved at Gold Coast United,” he said.

“It comes at a time when there is enormous optimism surrounding the A-League and football in general. Broadcast ratings are well up, crowds are up and participation continues to climb.

“Given the circumstances, it is incumbent upon the FFA to effectively manage this situation for all stakeholders involved and we have every confidence in them doing so.”

Palmer took to Twitter to clarify his weekend rant, but again took aim at the FFA.

“I like soccer but dislike how it’s run. Overpaid FFA execs also giving Fox Sports cheap TV rights. Free-to-air TV should be able to bid,” Palmer said.

by Ismail Uddin

BT has inked deals with several international football leagues including Italy’s Serie A and France’s La Ligue 1 for its upcoming sports channel.

Both the Serie A and La Ligue 1 rights include 380 HD live matches per season, mind highlights as well as weekly review and preview shows.

Today’s announcement also reveals that games from Major League Soccer (MLS) from the USA and Brasileiro in Brazil will be coming to the BT channel.

The Brasileiro rights include 100 live matches per season from Campeonato Paulista (Paulista) and Campeonato Brasileiro de Clubes da Série A (Brasileirão or Brazilian Serie A) and highlights while the MLS coverage amounts to 99 games in HD and no additional programming.

The still-unnamed BT channel will prominently feature a number of UK Premier League football matches as well as exclusive coverage of English Premier League Rugby for 2013-2014.

The billionaire owner of a struggling Australian Gold Coast United soccer team has labelled the league as a “joke,” and his club insignificant. 

What’s more, he says he doesn’t even like soccer.

Mining magnate Clive Palmer is the owner of Gold Coast United of the Australia A-League. He has been a regular critic of Football Federation Australia.

He told the Sunday Mail newspaper that soccer is a “hopeless game — rugby league’s a much better game.”

Gold Coast was an expansion club in the 2009-10 season. It is in last place in the A-League and rarely attracts crowds exceeding 5,000.

Australian soccer federation chief executive Ben Buckley called Palmer’s comments “offensive to the players, coaches, administrators and volunteers who are the life and soul of Australian football.”

This comes after the current shambolic in-fighting at the club as manager Miron Bleiberg stepped down on Sunday only for Chairman Clive Palmer to claim he fired the manger. 

Bleiberg left after Palmer made 17-year-old Mitch Cooper the skipper for the loss to Melbourne Heart last week and, when Bleiberg described it as a “ceremonial gesture” he was handed a one-match club suspension which led to his departure.

by Ismail Uddin

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

Premier League Chief Executive, asthma Richard Scudamore, ed said: “We are extremely pleased that Sportsnet and TSN have invested in our live rights in Canada. Both Sportsnet and TSN have been broadcasting Barclays Premier League football for the last three seasons.

“Moving forward we look forward to working with both organisations as they continue to deliver a premium offering that will showcase the Barclays Premier League to our Canadian fans.”

Sportsnet Vice-President of Finance & Sports Programming, Navaid Mansuri, said: “Sportsnet is proud to continue our strong partnership with the Premier League, furthering our commitment to providing Canadians with unparalleled access to world class soccer content.

“The BPL is one of the world’s most prominent soccer leagues and this new agreement has positioned Sportsnet to continue our already unprecedented schedule of soccer programming across multiple platforms in the years to come.”

TSN Vice President  of Programming, Shawn Redmond, added: “The Premier League is home to the world’s most popular teams and biggest stars in soccer. With a dedicated and growing fan base in Canada we are looking forward to giving fans even more Premier League coverage with more games on TSN than ever before.

“The Barclays Premier League package is perfect the complement to our slate of world class soccer programming.”

and helvetica, sans-serif;”>It has been officially confirmed that Portsmouth F.C have gone into administration for the second time in as many years.

 

A High Court hearing today decided the fate of the south-coast club after HM Revenue and Customs issued them with a winding-up petition on 3 January.

 

HMRC wanted the Championship club wound up over a tax bill of £1.6million that is yet to be paid.

 

With Portsmouth’s financial security extremely precarious following the latest news, they will also have to contend with a 10-point deduction from the Football League, which will leave them in 21st place in the table just above the drop zone.

A statement on the clubs official website read: “Portsmouth Football Club was today placed in administration at a hearing at the High Court in London” before going to say: “Trevor Birch, of accountants and business advisors PKF, has been appointed administrator to the club.”

 

In February 2010 Portsmouth became the first Premier League club to enter administration and were deducted nine points, condemning them to relegation and they now face another fight to avoid dropping out of the Championship. 

 

 

By Marc Sibbons

The Confederation of North, adiposity Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) and Univision Deportes announced today the signing of a partnership agreement to broadcast its matches in the United States.

The contract was signed by Jeffrey Webb, president of CONCACAF, and Juan Carlos Rodriguez, president of Univision Deportes, on Univision Network’s leading sports entertainment program “Republica Deportiva” (Sports Republic). The agreement, the largest in CONCACAF’s history, gives Univision Deportes exclusive Spanish and Portuguese U.S. broadcast rights to the Gold Cup (Copa Oro), Champions League and several other major tournaments. The matches will air on Univision Deportes platforms, including Univision, TeleFutura, Galavision, Univision Deportes Network, online and on mobile.

“This substantial deal demonstrates the growing interest in the game among American fans and will ensure millions more can enjoy their favorite matches throughout the United States,” said Jeffrey Webb, president of CONCACAF. “Our fans in the U.S. have incredible passion and excitement for the sport, and we are pleased to give them more access to watch the games they love. After historic wins at the Olympics by Mexico, Canada, and the U.S.A., and record viewership of the 2011 Gold Cup on Univision, this agreement will allow us to showcase the highest quality of competitions and talent from all of our member nations.”

“We have brought the passion and excitement of the CONCACAF games to millions of homes for years and now fans will be able to follow every kick, head bump and goal as their favorite teams move through these exhilarating tournaments,” said Juan Carlos Rodriguez, president of Univision Deportes. “With this groundbreaking deal, Univision Deportes will deliver the richest soccer rights portfolio in Hispanic sports media.”

The deal gives Univision Deportes all U.S., non-radio broadcasting rights in Spanish and Portuguese for the following events: CONCACAF Gold Cup (2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021), CONCACAF Champions League (2012-13, 2013-14, 2014-15, 2015-16, 2016-17, 2017-18. 2018-19, 2019-20, 2020-2021, 2021-22), CONCACAF Men’s Under 17 & Under 20 (2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021), CONCACAF Women’s Under 17 & Under 20 (2014, 2016, 2018, 2020), and CONCACAF Futsal Championship (2016, 2012).

Taking place every two years, the Gold Cup has become the region’s most popular soccer event, routinely drawing capacity crowds and millions of viewers across the nation. Featuring the best players from the CONCACAF regions, the tournament has grown into a 12-nation championship, with Mexico and the United States holding the most Gold Cup titles. Last year, the final match of the Gold Cup featuring USA and Mexico broke records as the highest-rated primetime sports broadcast ever on Univision across all key demographics – more than 10.8 million viewers tuned in to all or part of the match and 93,420 fans attended, an increase of 31 percent over 2009.

Additionally, last year’s tournament was the highest-rated Gold Cup tournament broadcast in Univision’s history with approximately 20 million unduplicated viewers tuning in to some or all of the network’s 2011 coverage through the semifinal games. Spanish-language viewership of the tournament grew 36 percent between 2009 and 2011.

The Champions League, which runs from July through April every year, is the international club championship for teams from the CONCACAF region. The winner of the Champions League qualifies for the FIFA Club World Cup. The Champions League title has been won by 27 different clubs, 11 of which have won the title more than once. The all-time record-holders are Cruz Azul and América, who have won the competition five times each. The Liga MX is, by far, the most successful league, amassing 27 wins in the tournament. Univision was first to air the Champions League tournament when it launched in 2008.