Chechen-owned club Neuchatel Xamax has been docked four points by the Swiss Football Association (SFV) for failing to prove it paid players’ wages.

It is the second time the club owned by businessman Bulat Chagaev faces such a penalty after it was docked four points for violating its license in December.

The league said in a statement late Tuesday that Xamax failed to provide proof that it had paid players’ salaries and social insurance for the month of October.

Xamax can appeal the decision, clinic as it is already doing with the previous sanction.

Chagaev is at the center of Swiss criminal investigations into suspected fraud regarding bank documents.

Xamax is currently fourth in the Swiss Super League.

This follows the decision to deduct 36 points from FC Sion for fielding illegitimate players.

The Atlantic 10 Conference announced it has signed an extensive set of television broadcast deals with ESPN, CBS and NBC ending in 2020-2021.

They will all start in the 2013-14 season and run through the 2020-2021 season.

Among the highlights is the fact that the men’s and women’s conference tournaments will be broadcast nationally from the quarterfinals on, instead of the semifinals. But there won’t be any more games on over-the-air network television as has been the case in recent years with CBS.

ESPN, will regain the rights to the men’s and women’s basketball tournament championship games. Bristol will get 14 regular-season men’s games and two regular-season women’s games each season to spread across ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU.

All of those games will also be streamed online via ESPN’s various digital platforms and apps.

CBS gets 25 regular season men’s basketball games and eight regular season women’s basketball games each year, plus the men’s and women’s basketball tournament semifinals. All of those games will air on the CBS Sports Network.

NBC gets 25 regular season men’s basketball games and six regular season women’s basketball games each year, plus the men’s and women’s basketball tournament quarterfinals. All of those games will air on the NBC Sports Network.

Hearts have been given an ultimatum by the Scottish Premier League, to either pay their players outstanding wages or face a possible points deduction it was announced on Wednesday.

An SPL sub-committee met on Wednesday after players’ union PFA Scotland submitted a formal complaint on behalf of Hearts’ first-team squad on December 16, when wages were not paid on time for a third consecutive month.

December’s pay remains outstanding and the SPL have made a series of demands in order to halt the financial uncertainty surrounding the club.

An SPL statement read on Wednesday: “An SPL board sub-committee today adjudicated in the dispute between 14 players and Heart of Midlothian FC.

“The SPL board sub-committee has ordered December wages to be paid by January 11.

“Interest on all sums overdue from October, November and December wages must also be paid by January 11. January salaries must be paid on time on January 16.

“The club must also pay the claimants’ legal expenses and the SPL’s costs of today’s hearing. Both sides have the right to appeal the decision to the Scottish FA within seven days.”

Should Hearts fail to meet the deadline, fresh disciplinary proceedings would be opened, with unlimited sanctions available to the SPL at that point.

SPL chief executive Neil Doncaster said in a statement: “Today’s decision demonstrates how seriously the SPL take late payments of wages to players.”

Hearts have avoided answering questions on the subject as a result of a media blackout, which has been in place since October 22.

The club this week partially lifted the media blackout by speaking to match broadcasters after their 3-1 Edinburgh derby win at Easter Road.

Manager Paulo Sergio told BBC Scotland he was expecting a difficult month with players expected to depart to reduce the wage bill.

Seven Network has reached an agreement to air Golf’s Emirates Australian Open at The Lakes Golf Club in Sydney from 6th – 9th December 2012.

Eight-time major champion Tom Watson joins World Number 6 Adam Scott, defending champion Greg Chalmers and former US Open champion Geoff Ogilvy among those in action at The Lakes.

Seven will broadcast all four days of the tournament from 12pm to 5pm AEDT each day, a total of 20 hours.

Seven Head of Sport Saul Shtein said: “Seven has a long and proud tradition of broadcasting golf and live sport. We look forward to once again showcasing the cream of Australian and international golf.”

Golf Australia CEO Stephen Pitt said he was delighted that fans will be able to follow all the action from The Lakes.

“We’re looking forward to an exciting Emirates Australian Open which will be broadcast into millions of homes across Australia on the Seven Network,” Pitt said.

“The Emirates Australian Open holds a special place in the hearts of both Australian golfers and sports fans and we’re very pleased that the Seven Network supports our passion to showcase the best of international golf across the country.”

The NSW Minister for Tourism, Major Events and the Arts, George Souris said “The NSW Government, through Destination NSW, is proud to continue supporting the Emirates Australian Open. The broadcast will not only showcase Sydney as Australia’s global city, the home of Australian golf and the home of the Australian Open, but also promote NSW as a destination worth visiting.”

Brian Thorburn, CEO of the PGA of Australia said: “This announcement is a great result for Australian sports fans. The 2011 Emirates Australian Open was watched by a significant domestic and international television audience, and we look forward to working with Channel Seven to grow the tournament in 2012 and beyond.” 

“This is a wonderful development for the Emirates Australian Open as Seven Network boasts an outstanding television platform that will relay all the action to a huge audience,” said David White, Managing Director – Australia, World Sports Group.

Fulham have submitted a planning application to increase Craven Cottage’s capacity from 25,700 to 30,000.

The ground has been the Barclays Premier League club’s home since 1896 and in October they ended talk of a move away by revealing plans to overhaul the stadium. Fulham plan to develop the Riverside Stand in order to increase capacity up to 30,000, as well as undertaking wider facility improvements at the venue.

In a statement on the club’s official website, www.fulhamfc.com, the club said: “Fulham Football Club today submitted an application to the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, for the redevelopment of the Riverside stand at its Craven Cottage home.

“The application will take the club’s current capacity to 30,000 seats and, further significant funds will be invested to open up the Thames River walk from Hammersmith to Putney for the first time in recent history.”

Fulham will hold exhibitions on January 25 and 28 to showcase the final design submitted and provide feedback from the second consultation.

Teleport operator, pills  SatLink Communications, bronchi has confirmed that the International Judo Federation (IJF) has selected SatLink as its global content distribution partner for all of its competitions, including the World Masters, Grand Slam and Team World Championships, throughout 2012 and beyond.

The live video broadcast of the competitions, which will be distributed to Europe, Asia and Americas via the Eutelsat, AsiaSat and Intelsat satellites, and streaming over the Internet, will be utilising SatLink’s occasional use  capabilities to provide professional service with maximum flexibility and reliability for viewers in all of these regions around the world.

SatLink will turnaround the IJF’s global satellite coverage in Ku-band and C-band on Eutelsat, AsiaSat and IntelSat satellites and deliver the content in both SD and HD to viewers around the globe.

SatLink’s fully managed SD and HD playout services and specialised HD transmission capabilities of up to 12 simultaneous HD streams and 24 SD streams, including encoding, decoding, encrypting and multiplexing were central to the IJF selection of SatLink as its global provider.

Bayern Munich are in discussions with Russian energy giant Gazprom on a possible sponsorship deal.

Munich president Uli Hoeness confirmed that he and Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge met with Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller before Christmas.

Gazprom sponsors Schalke but Hoeness says any possible deal between Bayern and the energy giant would not affect its Bundesliga rival.

Hoeness says “that’s something I have assured my friend (Schalke chairman) Clemens Toennies.”

Bayern is currently sponsored by Deutsche Telekom.

FC Sion have been docked 36 points by the Swiss Football Association (SFV) for fielding ineligible players ending the possibility of Manchester United being reinstated into the Champions League as FC Basle will remain in the competition.

The SFV were threatened with expulsion from all competitions by world football’s governing body FIFA if they failed to punish Sion, who were kicked out of the Europa League by UEFA earlier this season after fielding players they had signed during a transfer embargo.

FIFA told the SFV there would be a blanket ban on Swiss football if action was not taken by January 13. Sion have now been docked three points for each of the 12 Swiss league and cup matches any one of the six ineligible players appeared in. They had been third in the Swiss top flight with 31 points prior to the sanction.

Sion described the decision of the SFV as a “cowardly act”. The club have the right to appeal against the sanction in the Court of Arbitration for Sport, and a statement released by the club following the SFV decision read as follows.

“FC Sion was informed by the press of the decision of the Central Committee of the Swiss Football Association to bow to the blackmail of FIFA and collaborate on the injustice facing the club, by pronouncing a deduction of 36 points in the Super League championship.

“This process condemns the team irreparably to relegation. This decision is mainly an intolerable affront to equity in sports, but it is no surprise to (Sion), who did not expect any courage on the part of the SFV in the face of FIFA.

“Considering this cowardly act of the SFV, FC Sion is even more determined to defend its interests and ethics in sport of football by compliance with court decisions, both civil and sports.”

The SFV said in a statement on their official website: “The central board of the SFV has withdrawn 36 points from Super League club FC Sion. The board has therefore met the requirements of FIFA from December 17, 2011.”

FIFA had demanded on December 17 that “all matches in which the relevant players participated shall be declared forfeit or three points shall be deducted respectively”.

Celtic were reinstated to the Europa League in August, and Sion have pursued a lengthy legal action in various Swiss courts against their ban, attended the Court of Abritration for Sport before FIFA became involved and made their threats.

The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) has struck a deal with ESPN to broadcast matches from the Russian-based league in the United States, site officials said Tuesday.

The KHL covers six countries and is widely regarded as the second-best hockey league in the world after the NHL, generic which is under a lockout that has brought many of its top stars to the KHL.

The deal covers the “current KHL championship, allergist ” the league said in a statement.

The first KHL match on U.S. TV is to be champions Dynamo Moscow’s match against former champions Ak Bars Kazan on Wednesday, which is likely to feature Washington Capitals star Alexander Ovechkin.

The broadcast agreement also covers Britain, the league said.

Two regular-season KHL games are to be played in New York’s newly built Barclays Center in January, pitting Dynamo against SKA St. Petersburg.