The nine cities that will stage games during the 2016 UEFA European Championships have been announced by the French Football Federation (FFF).

Two minor surprises saw Saint-Etienne and Toulouse lose out after being named as reserve locations. Bordeaux, Lens, Lille, Marseille, Nancy, Nice, Paris and Saint-Denis were selected, as was Lyon, which took a major step forward last week in plans to build a new 60,000-seat stadium in the suburb of Decines-Charpieu when the project was put forward for public consultation.

Lyon’s stadium will be one of four new facilities built for the tournament, with stadia also set to be built in Bordeaux, Lille and Nice. The northern town of Lens was chosen for Euro 2016 matches despite its club being relegated to Ligue 2 this season.

FFF president Fernand Duchaussoy stated: “All the bids were of a very, very high standard, but the choice was very clear and decided at the first round of voting.”

Euro 2016 will be the first edition of the European Championships to feature 24 teams, increasing from 16 after next year’s Championships in Poland and Ukraine.

Jordanian businessman Hasan Ismaik has received approval from German soccer authorities, in principal, for his bid to buy 49 per cent of former Bundesliga club 1860 Munich for US$18.5m.

Ismaik is reportedly willing to invest some $48m to secure the club’s future and could formally take control of the stake later this. The move comes as the club battles serious debts following relegation from the top flight of German soccer in 2004, with larger bills unable to be paid and emergency funds already used up.

Dieter Schneider, the club’s president, has reached agreement with the majority of the club’s creditors over reduced payments, but without Ismaik’s investment, the club’s future remains in serious danger.

1860 Munich were one of the founder members of the Bundesliga before relegation left the club with severe financial difficulties. 1860 Munich sold its 50 per cent stake in the Allianz Arena to Bayern Munich in 2006 for just $15.4m to avoid insolvency, and now pays its fellow Munich club rent.

XOS Digital, viagra order Inc., a global provider of sports video technology, today announced that, on behalf of the Southeastern Conference (SEC), it will stream the 2012 SEC Football Media Days live for SEC fans on the SEC Digital Network.

The SEC Football Media Days take place from Tuesday, July 17 to Thursday, July 19 at the Wynfrey Hotel in Hoover, Ala.

“Football fans across the Southeast know that the SEC Media Days are synonymous with the beginning of the long-awaited football season,” said Ben Godwin, general manager, SEC Digital Network. “We are proud to provide our fans with complete access to live, online coverage of the largest college football media event in the country.”

SEC football fans can access the SEC Football Media Days live stream for free by visiting the SEC Digital Network. Fans can also access the free live stream on the SEC Affiliate Network by checking out the conference’s digital video player (SEC Video Zone) on more than 350 accredited news websites throughout the southeastern region. Plus, the live stream is accessible on Google TV and through the official SEC mobile and tablet applications for iPhone, iPad, Android Tablet and Android Phone.

In addition to complete coverage of the 2012 Football Media Days, fans can access archived footage with top coaches and athletes, extensive photo galleries and exclusive interviews, football previews and behind-the-scenes coverage.

“We are excited to be able to provide our fans with this exclusive inside look at SEC Football Media Days,” said Charles Bloom, SEC Associate Commissioner for Communications and Public Relations. “SEC Media Days provides an ‘unofficial’ kickoff to the start of the football season, and the coverage provided by XOS Digital puts our fans in the middle of the action.”

Fans can stay connected through the SEC’s Facebook which will provide updates and giveaways. In addition, fans can stay updated via the SEC’s official Twitter page, and use the official hash tag “SECKickoff12” to see what others are saying.

According to Ukraine’s tournament director for the UEFA 2012 European Championships, Lviv will not be stripped of its hosting rights, despite having been the setting of violent scenes during the recent Victory Day on May 9.

Widespread clashes occurred in Lviv, with fascist demonstrations marring the Victory Day celebrations while concerns over hooliganism are also rife in Euro 2012 co-host Poland, with the country’s government having threatened to force matches to take place behind closed doors to clamp down on the problem in the build-up to the event.

Markiyan Lubkivsky stated: “I would not like the Communist Party (CPU) to [decide] which cities are worthy to host the Euro 2012 and which are not. The CPU is not an institution that can choose the format of the tournament. The only structure that decides on the format is UEFA. The UEFA agenda currently does not include the issue of a format change [for the tournament].”

Lubkivsky added that were UEFA to remove Lviv as a host city, “neither Dnipropetrovsk nor Odesa” would be ready to stage games at Euro 2012, adding that the May 9 protests in Lviv were “thoroughly monitored” by UEFA, considering “the problems of security on the territory of Euro 2012”.

Foxtel have secured exclusive broadcast rights to the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) under a two-year, rx multi-channel agreement.

The deal also involves Fuel TV, FOX SPORTS, FX, and Main Event.

Broadcasting the world’s premier mixed martial arts (MMA) organisation since 2007 on Fuel TV, Foxtel will now be home to the most premium UFC content ever seen in Australia across its channels.

UFC President, Dana White, said: “The UFC is the most exciting sports organisation in the world and Foxtel is the no.1 entertainment company in Australia, so this is a perfect match.

“Australia is pound-for-pound the No.1 UFC market for its size, and we are now going to give them more UFC content than ever before. With Foxtel, they won’t miss a single minute of the action”.

FOX SPORTS Australia Chief Executive, Patrick Delany, said: “The UFC has become a major player in sports entertainment in Australia. Its growth has been nothing short of phenomenal. In the US, the popularity rivals the ‘big four’ of the NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB and the new partnership with Foxtel will see the UFC explode here in Australia.

“Fuel TV has aired UFC programming for several years, but this new multi-channel arrangement on Foxtel promises fans they won’t miss a single event. From live fights to the unscripted drama of The Ultimate Fighter series, there is now a home for it all on Foxtel.”

In a further coup for Australian UFC fans, Foxtel channel FX has announced the first ever locally-produced UFC series, The Ultimate Fighter: Australia vs UK –The Smashes, to debut Wednesday September 19 at 7:30pm AEST on FX. FOX International Channels’ Managing Director, Karin Simoncini, said: “FX is the home of dramatic entertainment and I can’t think of a show that has more drama than The Ultimate Fighter.

“This is FX’s first local commission and we are very proud to be teaming with the UFC to find the next Ultimate Fighter here in Australia.”

Foxtel will broadcast LIVE UFC fights across Fuel TV, FOX SPORTS, FX and Main Event, plus all new series of long-running UFC programs The Ultimate Fighter and Unleashed.

Foxtel has also created a new online home for the UFC, www.ufconfoxtel.com, which features the latest news and video, series and program information, a TV guide dedicated to UFC programming, and a live Twitter stream so fans can keep up with all the action.

The Japan Football Association (JFA) have announced that the nation have reinstated its initial plans to pull out of the Copa America in July after the body was unable to force clubs in Europe to release players for national duty.

Originally invited as a guest for the South American international soccer tournament, Japan chose to withdraw its participation following the devastating earthquake which hit the nation in March.

Since then the JFA announced that it would review this choice not to partake in the event and had announced a reversal of this decision but after deliberation, president Junji Ogura informed Argentinean organisers yesterday, May 17, that his country will be unable to field a team for the competition.

Meanwhile, J-League players will be busy making up five rounds of matches suspended in the wake of the natural disaster earlier in the year.

South American soccer’s governing body CONMEBOL have now invited Costa Rica to play in Japan’s place while Mexico are the other guest team.

The National Football League’s (NFL) Cleveland Browns and Skyview Networks announced today an expanded broadcast partnership.

Skyview, cheap an integrated professional sports distribution company specializing in play-by-play broadcast systems, capsule will provide its Satellite Distribution Service to supplement its already existing F.A.S.T. Inventory Management Software and Live Read Logging Service currently utilized by the Cleveland Browns. Skyview will also offer its F.A.S.T. Web Automation to the PNC Bank Cleveland Browns Radio Network.

“We have been very pleased with our working relationship with Skyview Networks. The Radio Distribution technology is a natural supplement to our existing partnership and will provide great value to the Browns and PNC Bank Cleveland Browns Radio Network advertisers for many years to come,” said Jim Ross, senior vice president, business development of the Cleveland Browns.”

Skyview Networks has begun assembling the radio distribution platform across the PNC Bank Cleveland Browns Radio Network comprised of 28 affiliates. Skyview Networks’ distribution platform includes cost-effective wise satellite receivers that provide the franchise the advantage of copy split-spot insertion (the ability to run different versions of an advertiser message across a network simultaneously) for its statewide network. Cleveland Browns advertisers will now have the option to localize spots market by market or regionalize messaging across the network.

Skyview Networks also makes available its F.A.S.T. Web Automation for the PNC Bank Cleveland Browns Radio Network. This system works in tandem with the distribution platform to provide broadcast accuracy and savings to the affiliates. The system utilizes Skyview Networks developed relay cue technology that provides cues unique to each break. It is also cost-efficient option for affiliates, eliminating the need to hire and train a board operator for the season.

“We feel privileged to expand the scope of our partnership to include our full menu of services,” said Ken Thiele, president of Skyview Networks. “As a broadcast solutions company, we pride ourselves on being a one stop solution for broadcast needs. With our distribution platform, I am confident the franchise will experience the full benefit of the integration between the Skyview systems.”

Ukraine’s government has revised down estimates of the final cost of preparations for the UEFA European Championships which it is co-hosting with Poland next year.

The latest figure of US$14.5bn is $5.5bn less than the previous $20bn estimate that would be borne by taxpayers. Most of the funding is coming from the public purse, with the rest from the private sector.

Newspaper The Kyiv Post reports that the massive decrease is due to less money needed for building hotels, training facilities and road infrastructure, claiming that the Euro 2012 government program has undergone at least 20 revisions since April 2010.

The report also claimed that Poland is spending about $30.4bn on Euro 2012 preparations, with some financing help from the European Union.

UEFA’s Euro 2012 director Martin Kallen told the Kyiv Post that European soccer’s governing body was indifferent to who was funding preparations, stating: “The important thing is that things are finished on time. We have no real view how things are actually done.”

BTV and BNT have gained Bulgaria rights to UEFA’s premier soccer competitions until 2015.

BTV has gained rights for the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League while BNT has obtained just Europa League rights in the country.

Each UEFA Champions League matchnight one live match will be broadcast on free channel BTV Action, followed by a highlights programme. In addition a second live match will be broadcast on pay channel RING.BG each matchnight.

With regard to the UEFA Europa League, public broadcaster BNT will broadcast the best match each matchweek, as well as the weekly highlights programme on BNT1. BTV has been awarded the rights to all remaining live matches and will broadcast one live match on BTV Action and one live match on RING.BG each matchweek.

German Bundesliga soccer club and UEFA Champions League semi-finalist Schalke 04 has reported a profit of US$1.7m for 2010, after a substantial $23.7m loss the year earlier.

The club’s successful run in European club soccer’s elite competition saw turnover increase from $167.9m in 2009 to a record $238.5m. Despite this, the German club’s debts have risen significantly due to the side strengthening its playing squad leading to a rise from $28.2m to $218.6m.

Schalke released a statement saying: “We have invested a lot in the team in order to be competitive in the Champions League.” As a result “personnel expenses”, including players, increased from $89.3m in 2009 to $110.2m in 2010.

In April, coach Felix Magath was sacked amidst claims he had hit the Gelsenkirchen-based club’s finances by backing expensive transfers and salaries for players. The club knocked out Champions League holders Inter Milan in a shock run in the Champions League but were unceremoniously dumped out by Manchester United in the semi-finals.

The club added: “The resulting success on the pitch generated income from the Champions League, the majority of which, however, will not find its way onto the balance sheet until 2011.”