BBC have increased their coverage of the UCI Track Cycling World Cup taking place in Glasgow from November 16-18 on BBC TV, anabolics including the red button and the website

The event sold out within just one hour and will be the first major international track cycling event in the UK since the Olympics.

Coverage has increased this year to include live action and highlights across three days.

The racing is also live on BBC Five Live Sports Extra on Friday and Sat with Five Live Sport being presented from the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome on Sunday.

The sell-out competition will take place at the state-of-the-art Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome and is the second of a three round Track Cycling World Cup series. The world’s leading track cyclists will compete and the event will showcase three days of track cycling including the disciplines of keirin, individual sprint, team sprint, team pursuit and the omnium.

Jonny Clay, Cycle Sport and Membership Director of British Cycling, said: “It’s fantastic that the BBC have increased broadcast coverage for the Track Cycling World Cup.

“Cycling is at an all-time high since London 2012 so people can get to enjoy watching more international cycling action. As the event is now a sell-out, we are now focused on preparing to deliver a great event for those attending or watching it at home.”

Major League Soccer (MLS) franchise the San Jose Earthquakes has received a welcome boost in its attempt to develop a new 18,000-seat stadium. After securing a Planned Development Permit in December, the Earthquakes received the backing of the San Jose Planning Commission, who voted 6-0 to support their plans.

Earthquakes President Dave Kaval said:  “Tonight’s decision to uphold the Planned Development Permit that we received in December is a milestone not just for the San Jose Earthquakes but all Bay Area soccer fans“Our club and its stakeholders have worked hard through this process and we feel that we have a great plan for our new stadium.

“Looking ahead, our club will now begin the work of finalising the stadium design and financing plan. The goal is to put shovels in the ground this year.” 

Despite the benefits of sharing a venue with their NFL brothers, the development of soccer-specific stadiums is perceived as crucial in aiding the growth of soccer in the United States, specifically in the Bay Area. The failure to secure an appropriate venue in California consequently saw the Earthquakes relocate to Houston and renamed the Dynamo. 

Since restarting in 2008, San Jose has taken to the pitch at the Back Shaw stadium, which holds 10,300 spectators. Plans for privately financed $60million new facility had been put in place since September 2009 and 10 of 12 available luxury suites have already been sold, accumulating in excess of US$3.5 million in revenue for the project.

MLS president Mark Abbott said: “I can tell you in 20 years (working for MLS)… this is the first time I’ve ever spoken before a group like this and not been asking for public money“It’s very unique to find, in this day and age – or any day and age, really – an ownership group like we have here in San Jose, willing to 100% privately finance the facility.”

talkSPORT, symptoms the world’s biggest sports radio station, pills has signed an agreement to broadcast exclusive UK radio commentary of the 2013 British & Irish Lions Tour of Australia.

The station will broadcast all 10 British & Irish Lions matches, including the three Tests against Australia and the warm up match in Hong Kong against the Barbarians, on a multiplatform basis across 1089 / 1053AM, digital radio and online at talkSPORT.co.uk. This will be the first time ever that a Lions tour has been exclusively broadcast on commercial radio in the UK.

talkSPORT’s sister station Swansea Sound in South Wales will also be broadcasting  coverage of the Tour and live Test commentary.

The first 2013 British & Irish Lions match is against the Barbarians on Saturday 1 June and the Tour to Australia begins with the cream of British and Irish rugby taking on Western Force on Wednesday 5 June. The 2013 Tour continues until Saturday 6 July with the third and final Test against Australia in Sydney.

talkSPORT was the exclusive UK radio broadcaster of the 2011 Rugby World Cup and is an official broadcaster of Aviva Premiership Rugby. The station has a dedicated weekly rugby programme ‘Full Contact’ and previously broadcast commentary of the three Test matches during the 2005 Lions Tour to New Zealand on a non-exclusive basis in the UK. talkSPORT is also an official broadcaster of the FA Cup, England football internationals, the Capital One Cup and is global audio partner of the Barclays Premier League.

Moz Dee, talkSPORT Programme Director, said: “The Lions Tour is one of the biggest events in sport, and we’re proud to be bringing this exclusively to our audience. We had a great Rugby World Cup in New Zealand and we can’t wait to follow the Lions in Australia. talkSPORT will be announcing a great team to cover the Tour and we’re delighted that our sister station Swansea Sound will also be broadcasting the Tests and giving our coverage a regional flavour.”

Scott Taunton, talkSPORT Chief Executive, commented: “UTV Media (GB) continues to invest in talkSPORT, and we’re delighted that the station will broadcast this event exclusively as it offers advertisers and sponsors a unique opportunity both nationally and regionally. Our commitment to rugby has been consistent after the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand and our partnership with the Aviva Premiership.”

John Feehan, Lions Chief Executive, added: “talkSPORT has become a major force in UK sports radio with proven experience in live rugby broadcasting. It’s proper that the Lions Tour in its 125th year looks for dynamic new partners that benefit both our sponsors and fans and we’re extremely pleased to be working with talkSPORT.”

British Prime Minister David Cameron has asked England’s soccer leaders to provide a plan against racism in the sport after the game has been marred a series of high-profile cases involving the Premier League. 

Cameron addressed soccer officials, former players and anti-racism campaigners at a summit on Downing Street, warning that abusive behavior by soccer stars is imitated by youngsters and must be stopped.

“We have some problems still today,” Cameron said. “We need to act quickly to make sure those problems do not creep back in … if everyone plays their role, then we can easily crush and deal with this problem.”

The English Football Association must provide a full report detailing how racism and other forms of discrimination can be combatted.

“We have committed to coming back with a detailed follow-up to this in two months,” FA chairman David Bernstein said.

The government announced Wednesday it will give $4.7 million toward the English Football Association’s new coaching center in a bid to encourage more people from ethnic minorities to become managers. There are no black managers in the Premier League.

In July, John Terry will become the first high-profile soccer player to stand trial for racial abuse following a confrontation with Queens Park Rangers defender Anton Ferdinand in October. The Chelsea player was stripped of the England captaincy this month in a move opposed by coach Fabio Capello, who quit in protest.

Sport Secretary Jeremy Hunt said after Wednesday’s summit that soccer needs to address “how we draw the line between banter and offensive language.”

Liverpool, the 18-time English champion, was criticized for its support of striker Luis Suarez when he was banned for eight matches after racially abusing Manchester United defender Patrice Evra in October.

Liverpool, owned by the parent company of the Boston Red Sox, was condemned by anti-racism groups for backing Suarez and allowing players and manager Kenny Dalglishto wear T-shirts featuring Suarez’s picture in a show of solidarity before a match weeks later.

This month, Suarez was criticized for refusing to shake hands with Evra in their first match since the confrontation. He apologized later under pressure.

“What happens on the field influences what happens off the field. You see children as young as 6 imitating the behavior they see on the field,” Cameron said. “So this is not just important for football — it’s important for the whole country … we want to make sure football is all about a power to do good, rather than anything else.”

by Ismail Uddin

IMG, a global sports and media company, has announced it will distribute the media rights to Cycling’s Flanders Classics.

Flanders Classics comprises of six races taking place in Belgium, France and Netherlands.

IMG have been selected to market the media rights for the Omloop Het Neuwsblad, Dwars Door Vlaanderen, Gent-Wevelgum, Scheldeprijs, Brabantse Pijl, and the Ronde Van Vlaanderen, as well as the Paris-Brussels one-day race for at least three years from 2013.

Floris Weisz, IMG Media’s sales and acquisitions executive for the Netherlands, Belgium, Greece and Cyprus, said: “We are very excited to partner with the Flanders Classic organisation to further build their brand around the globe and we are delighted to be representing these famous races, which strengthens IMG’s offering to the world’s cycling broadcasters.”

Wouter Vandenhaute, chief executive of Flanders Classics, added: “Cycling is Flanders and Flanders is cycling. The way cycling races are experienced in Flanders is simply unique, from Omloop Het Nieuwsblad to Brabantse Pijl, Flanders presents itself as the centre of cycling. Flanders Classics groups six great races together, in order to maintain their strong position in springtime. We are happy to partner with IMG Media and to have our races broadcast worldwide, with the fierce competition and the unique Belgium landscapes available to view across all platforms in every continent.”

ESPN STAR Sports (ESS), Asia’s biggest sports content provider, today announced the extension of its broadcast of The Masters Tournament, on multiple platforms across its footprint in Asia (excluding South Korea), continuing its coverage of golf’s most revered championship.

As in previous years, ESS will showcase The Masters ‘live’ coverage with comprehensive presentation packages including half-hour daily highlights and ‘live’ on-ground reports in English. 

Peter Hutton Managing Director, ESPN STAR Sports said, “We’re delighted to sign again for such a unique and special event, with a remarkable character and history. We look forward to doing the event justice with our team in Augusta bringing that history to life for our viewers all the way across Asia”. 

The Masters tournament is just one of ESS’s stable of marquee golf properties which include Golf Majors such as The Open Championship and The US Open. In addition, ESS has also secured multi-year rights to the PGA Grand Slam of Golf, OneAsia, the Royal Trophy, PGA Euro Pro Tour, and Ladies European Tour, further cementing the network’s position as truly being the ‘Home of Golf’ across Asia.

British and Irish horse racing broadcaster GBI Racing Limited has signed a deal with independent bookmaker Marathon that will see its coverage shown in Russia and parts of the Commonwealth of Independent States.

GBI Racing is a joint-venture between Racecourse Media Group and At The Races and provides betting shop operators with live multi-camera coverage of horse races from every one of the UK’s 60 racecourses in addition to Ireland’s 26 tracks and finalised similar agreements in April with Danske Spil AS and Woodbine Entertainment Group to bring its coverage to venues in Denmark and Canada.

This latest deal will see the GBI Racing TV channel broadcast British and Irish horse racing to Marathon-operated fixed-odds betting outlets Russia, sale buy Armenia, cialis buy Azerbaijan, cough Belarus, Georgia and Moldova while Leeds-based Independent Content Services (ICS) is to provide Russian-language commentary services and voiceovers.

“The reach of GBI Racing is continually growing and this partnership with Marathon will allow British and Irish racing to enter a previously untapped part of the world,” said Richard Brooke, Chairman for GBI Racing.

“The tone of the voiceovers and commentaries will be very much to demystify and educate the newcomer to the sport and we believe this will generate interest and excitement around British and Irish racing.”

For its part, Marathon was established in 1997 and holds licences registered in the Netherlands Antilles and the UK.

“We have worked with GBI Racing and ICS to present UK and Irish horse racing as an entertaining, engaging and quality product,” said Graham Luke, International Operations Director for Marathon.

“We have felt from the start that, [if] presented in the right way, our customers would understand it and enjoy it and so it is proving. We will continue to work together to ensure we are responsive to our customers and to ensure the continued success of the project.”

Following rumours that the Venky brothers will soon sell Blackburn Rovers FC, fans have created The Blackburn Rovers Supporters’ Investment Trust, with plans to buy the club if the opportunity arises.

The current owners have faced pressure from supporters since purchasing the club in November 2010 and are now rumoured to be looking to sell, and this fans group feel they would be the perfect people to take control.

The takeover effort is being fronted by Wayne Wild, a director of one of Blackburn’s commercial partners and sponsor who late last year voiced his displeasure at Venky’s handling of the club.

Fans have become frustrated by continuing underachievement after narrowly avoiding relegation last year and remaining around the drop-zone this season.

“At some point, and maybe soon, we believe Blackburn Rovers will be put up for sale,” Wild said.

“We believe the best ownership model for Blackburn Rovers is to be entirely owned by the supporters through a trust.

“We are seeking to engage with the current owners to advise them of our plans and we ask that they consider our proposals seriously as a credible and respectful way to pass on ownership of the club.”

The plan for the trust is to persuade supporters to commit to purchasing shares in the club to try and help the movement gain some weight and force the Venky brothers’ hand into selling.

“At this stage we are asking Blackburn Rovers supporters if they would be willing to buy a share in their club. The more fans who pledge to buy a share, the stronger and more credible our bid will be.

“We will raise funds to buy the club by issuing a sufficient number of shares to meet a realistic valuation at the time of purchase.

“It is clear that any fair and realistic valuation will be based on the position of the club within the league structure at the time of purchase together with a true assessment of the clubs assets and liabilities.

“It is not, therefore, possible at this stage to put an exact figure on the amount of capital we will need to raise to be successful.”

by Ismail Uddin

beIN SPORT, herbal the new independent 24-hour global sports network have announced it will be carried by Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks.

Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks will offer the network in English and a separate network in Spanish on TV and on demand. Additionally, apoplectic both networks will be made available to authenticated subscribers through the TWC TV website and applications inside the home as well as through Bright House Networks BHTV app and through beIN SPORT’s website and applications inside and outside the home.

With beIN SPORT, Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks customers will have access to exciting soccer and international sports programming, including top soccer leagues and tournaments from Europe and South America, including games from Spain’s La Liga, Italy’s Serie A, France’s Ligue 1, South American World Cup Qualifiers and Copa America 2015. The network also carries the away games of the U.S. Men’s National Soccer Team in the qualifying rounds of the 2014 World Cup.

“U.S. international sports fans are underserved and beIN SPORT fulfills that need. Our original programming and vast, exclusive coverage is designed to meet the desire of viewers to ‘be in’ the game and be involved in the international sports community,” said Yousef Al Obaidly, managing director of beIN SPORT. “We are excited to offer Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks customers the unmatched play of international competition captured only on beIN SPORT.”

Derby County’s pursuit of Ross Wilson has ended after the Hornets’ football business director indicated to the Rams that he sees his future at Vicarage Road.

Watford’s Harefield Academy was a big attraction for Wilson when he arrived last summer and with the Scot heavily involved in the club’s preparatory work for their EPPP proposals, alongside head of Academy Nick Cox, a move away from the club so soon after his arrival always seemed unlikely.

Derby have made it clear they are looking to strengthen their football business operations, however Rams’ boss Nigel Clough is said to be unhappy about a proposed role.

Wilson has been linked with the Derby post on a few occasions in recent months, with the Daily Mirror this week claiming the Championship club hoped to secure the former Falkirk man before the end of the season.

by Ismail Uddin