The League Managers Association (LMA) has lashed out the “vast sums of money wasted” on sacking managers in the 2010-11 season, as a record sum was lavished on compensation payments.

In the latest edition of the LMA’s Manager magazine, it is revealed that English clubs in the top four divisions spent in excess of £99 million on changing managers last season.

The figure combines the costs incurred in paying compensation, legal fees and ‘double contracts’, where a manager’s contract is honoured for a period after having been replaced by another.

The total does not, however, include the cost of fees to agents, or the expense of hiring and firing backroom staff to work with the new managers.

Richard Bevan, the LMA’s chief executive, said: “As we approach the end of 2011, we have seen a year in which football clubs in England have spent a record amount on the payment of compensation and legal fees in the dismissal of managers across the leagues.

“This defies the principles of building for stability and success and, more worryingly, is an expense that clubs, certainly in the lower leagues, can ill-afford.

“As the squeeze on finances, from the global institution to the man in the street, continues, we hope 2012 will not see a repeat of the vast sums of money wasted from the game.”

Despite the likes of Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger still in charge, the LMA’s report also revealed Premier League managers last, on average, two years. While it is even lower in other divisions.

The report read: “The figure for the length of manager tenure are equally worrying, with the average tenure of a manager in the Championship now having fallen to below 12 months.

“The figures are only slightly better for the other divisions, with League Two managers lasting, on average, for 1.33 years, League One enjoying 1.67 years and Premier League managers lasting 2.07 years.”

Netball South Africa (NSA) has revealed they have signed a five-year broadcast partnership with SuperSport, which will see netball being broadcast live from 2013.

The broadcaster, which covered eight matches of the international Diamond Challenge series in August, said on Monday it would focus its coverage on the national senior team and the new Netball Premier League.

Mimi Mthethwa, the president of NSA, said: “I have always said that netball is the sleeping giant of South African sport and now finally it can take its rightful place alongside the major codes.

“We have been looking for a broadcasting partner who will shape the code of netball in South Africa.

“NSA’s objectives are to surround ourselves with the best stakeholders and help them become an even more professional organisation both on and off the field.

“SuperSport obviously fulfils this objective and will present us in the best possible light.”

The netball federation hoped the move would ensure it did not lose players to foreign countries. In the past, several South African netballers had travelled overseas to gain experience.

Proteas captain Amanda Mynhardt recently returned from New Zealand where she spent three months playing for an amateur club.

“We hope that this deal encourages our players to play in the domestic league so that other countries don’t benefit from our development,” Mthethwa said.

SuperSport chief executive Happy Ntshingila added: “With its massive numbers and competitive nature, netball has much going for it.

“We hope that with our broadcast investment we can help take the sport to another level.

“We are delighted that netball is now part of the SuperSport family.”

English Premier League giants Arsenal FC have postponed their Boxing Day fixture at the Emirates with Wolves by 24 hours, due to the proposed industrial action on London’s transport network.

A statement on the club’s official website read: “As a result of the proposed industrial action on London Underground on Monday, December 26, our home Premier League match against Wolverhampton Wanderers, originally planned for Boxing Day, has been postponed.

“Arsenal v Wolverhampton Wanderers will now take place 24 hours later on Tuesday, December 27 (a public holiday), kick-off 3pm at Emirates Stadium.

“This decision has had to be made now, before the result of the legal challenge to the proposed industrial action is finally known, due to the preparation period needed to safely operate Emirates Stadium by all the relevant agencies.

“The Club has been liaising closely in order to make this decision, with all the relevant agencies, including the Metropolitan Police, Transport for London, London Underground, The FA Premier League, Wolverhampton Wanderers FC and Islington Council.

“The paramount concern was always the duty of care towards the Arsenal supporters, Wolverhampton Wanderers supporters, Matchday employees, workers and indeed everyone who was planning to attend the match on Boxing Day.

“In addition to the proposed industrial action on London Underground on Boxing Day, there would also have been no services operating on overground train services into London on this day. Also, normal parking restrictions close to the stadium would have still applied. This would have caused severe disruption, or at worst, inability for supporters or Matchday employees and workers to get to Emirates Stadium.

“We apologise for the inconvenience this may have caused supporters, but we feel that the right decision has been made based on a duty of care. All tickets purchased for this match are still valid for Tuesday, December 27.”

SIS will once again be covering some of the most prestigious thoroughbred horse racing in the world following a new broadcast deal with The Dubai Racing Club.

SIS has agreed to broadcast all racing from Meydan, anesthetist culminating in the world’s richest horse race, the Dubai World Cup on March 30, 2013.

From November 8, there will be 20 scheduled meetings which will be shown in betting shops and also streamed to digital bookmakers.

Along with the existing agreement to show 11 meetings from Jebel Ali, which starts on November 2, it represents high quality racing throughout the winter for retail and online outlets.

George Irvine, Managing Director, SIS Betting, said: “We’re delighted to be able to continue with our coverage from Meydan. This is our tenth year of showing racing from Dubai and the feedback from bookmakers is that this is content their customers like to bet on.

“Meydan races predominately from 3 pm to 7pm Thursdays and Saturdays, while Jebel Ali meetings are on Fridays from 10am to 1pm – times which work well for bookmakers. And it all culminates in the richest meeting in the world, the Dubai World Cup day, with eight Group 1 races.”

Steve Templeman, director of Jenningsbet, predicted the new SIS deal would be popular with customers . “The racing is well-organised over there and it’s good quality, which always goes down well with the punters,” he said.

“The time difference means there’ll be few clashes with other premium races so it’s a good thing for us. Hopefully we’ll see some increased revenue as a result.”

All pre-race and race-day data and pricing will be available via the SISdata365 feed. Shops will take the service via FACTS, while operators worldwide can take a packaged streaming service for their website and mobile outlets.

Tennis world number two Rafael Nadal and his uncle Miguel Angel Nadal have added salt onto the wounds of Real Mallorca fans as they have sold their 10 percent shareholding in the Spanish football team, the club said in a statement.

German businessman Utz Claassen bought the shares to increase his stakeholding to 20 percent.

Nadal, a Real Madrid fan who lives on the Mediterranean island, had joined a consortium that invested in financially troubled Mallorca in 2010.

His uncle Miguel Angel, a former Spain and Barcelona defender, became then coach Michael Laudrup’s number two, but when the Dane resigned in September Nadal openly criticised the board’s handling of the matter.

Mallorca, now coached by Joaquin Caparros, are in financial administration, lie 14th in La Liga and trail 1-0 going into Tuesday’s King’s Cup last-32 second leg at Sporting Gijon.

The FIA and Eurosport Events Ltd. have renewed their commercial rights agreement for the FIA World Touring Car Championship.

This is the second renewal of the agreement among the parties, herbal since the FIA appointed Eurosport Events as WTCC championship promoter back in 2005.

The new contract will have a duration of five years, ed until December 31, 2017.

Jean Todt, FIA President said: “The FIA is delighted to carry on this cooperation with Eurosport Events that has proved so fruitful so far. During these eight years it has been promoting the World Touring CarChampionship, Eurosport Events put in a huge effort to make the championship growing in competition on the track and popularity worldwide. The renewal of the agreement will further enhance the cooperation among the parties to make the championship even stronger.”

Laurent Eric Le Lay, Eurosport CEO commented: “We greatly appreciate the value of the fact that the FIA wished to continue placing its trust in Eurosport Events. This new agreement is a powerful motivation for us to redouble our efforts and work in partnership with them for another five years. We are confident that the WTCC has a huge potential to grow further, up to the highest level in motorsport, attracting new car manufacturers and expanding its presence in the key automotive markets worldwide.”

The English Premier League and French Football League, Ligue 1 have combined to lobby UEFA concerning the issue of selling player transfer rights to investors and the effect it will have on financial fair play. Previously this month, UEFA stated it will investigate third-party ownership, a practice that is allowed in most of Europe, but banned in both France and England.

The two nations hold the belief that because third-party ownership is permitted under the FFP rules, English and French clubs will be at a serious disadvantage as clubs in Spain, Portugal an Germany will be able to purchase players for a lower price because a lower party holds on to a percentage of the rights, which can be repaid over the length of the players contract.

Third-party ownership was outlawed by the Premier League following the controversy surrounding the Carlos Tevez affair and has warned that if the practice is permitted to continue, the integrity of competition will be seriously damaged. A spokesman for the Premier League said: “Third-party ownership is prohibited under Premier League rules as we believe it threatens the integrity of the game,

“We are aware that it is permitted under UEFA’s financial fair play regulations and that this could create a disadvantage for our clubs competing in European competition.

“We believe that restricting transparent owner equity investment while having no prohibition on third-party player investment seems at odds with the principles of FFP. The Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP) also restricts third-party ownership and we have had initial discussions with them to consider how we might work together to further highlight these issues at UEFA and FIFA level.”

Andrea Traverso, UEFA’s head of club licensing, has admitted that the issue is a major concern. UEFA will evaluate club’s account over a three year period beginning with the current 2011-12 financial year. Clubs involved in European competition will be allowed to make a loss of just Eur45 million over those years.

The Big West Conference and Fox Sports Networks have announced a new long-term media rights deal that make three of Fox’s cable outlets, including Prime Ticket and Fox Sports West, the conference’s exclusive regional partners.

The deal begins with the existing deal for 2012-13 and will increase considerably in 2013-14. The Fox networks will air 20 events this school year, including the women’s basketball title game and four men’s basketball quarterfinal matchups.

The over-the-air deal for 2013-14 bumps the number of exposures to 32, including 12 San Diego State men’s basketball games. Fox Sports San Diego is the other regional outlet included in the deal.

Fox Sports Networks will also launch the conference’s new free-to-access video streaming platform this November, with up to 800 live events expected to be streamed annually, including men’s and women’s basketball and women’s volleyball.

“This agreement with FOX continues a partnership that began more than 15 years ago,” Big West Conference Commissioner Dennis Farrell said.

“The Big West’s continued growth and stability contributed to the overall expansion of the package and the increased exposure through the cable and digital platforms will only enhance the Conference brand.”

English Premier League team, Fulham FC, have posted record profits of £4.8 million ($7.5m) for the past financial year.

The Premier League club have also reported a record revenue of £77.1 million ($121m) for the 2010-11 season, according to figures released for the year ending June 30, 2011.

Fulham recorded a profit of £5.4 million ($8.5m), before interest and taxation, and enjoyed a 4.9% increase in attendance, which saw Craven Cottage secure a 98% occupancy figure for the season.

Fulham chairman Mohamed Al Fayed said in a statement: ”The club has made great strides in recent years, and this excellent set of financial results is just reward for our progress. As always, I am determined to ensure the club moves in the right direction whilst remaining true to our history, heritage and past traditions.”

The west Londoners finished the 2010-11 season eighth in the top flight and currently lie 11th in the table.

Off the field, the club’s progress has been highlighted by their recently-announced plans to increase Craven Cottage’s capacity to 30,000.

The stadium has been Fulham’s home since 1896 and would be subject to wider facility improvements, as well as the Riverside Stand development.

On the plans, Al Fayed added: ”The announcement of our plans to redevelop the Riverside Stand, whilst opening up the Riverwalk for the benefit of the community, is further proof that my ambition for this football club remains resolute.”

The Premier League have announced that SuperSport has been awarded the live audio visual broadcast rights for all 380 Barclays Premier League matches per season for seasons 2013/14-2015/16 in South Africa, capsule Nigeria, and Sub-Saharan Africa.

Premier League Chief Executive, Richard Scudamore, said: “We have worked with SuperSport for a number of years and are extremely pleased to extend our partnership.

“They will continue to deliver a premium offering that will showcase the Barclays Premier League to our many fans in South Africa, Nigeria, and Sub-Saharan Africa.”

SuperSport Chief Executive, Happy Ntshingila said: “The Barclays Premier League has been a mainstay of SuperSports’s offering for many years and we are delighted to have once again extended the partnership.”