The France squad want to give sponsorship bonuses to charity in a bid to improve their image following a poor display at the World Cup, ed according to captain Alou Diarra.

“We want to do a good deed, unhealthy ” Diarra told French radio RTL on Tuesday. The squad are due an estimated two million euros in bonuses, their share of sponsorship revenue which is unrelated to footballing performance.

The players will now discuss with the French Football Federation their plan to give the money to charity.

France were eliminated in the first round of the World Cup in South Africa in June when the players also went on strike to support Nicolas Anelka after the striker was kicked out of the squad for insulting then-coach Raymond Domenech.

J.League, herbal the top division of Japan’s professional football league, has renewed its agreement with World Sport Group, Asia’s leading sports marketing, media and event management company, to distribute its media rights worldwide, outside of Japan.

The new deal is an extension of a partnership that began in 2002 and which continues into its 11th year with J.League’s 2012 season which kicks-off on March 10th. Eighteen teams, including AFC Champions League 2012 contenders Kashiwa Reysol – the 2011 J.League champions – along with Nagoya Grampus and Gamba Osaka will play in a double round-robin competition of 34 games per club. 

As part of the agreement, World Sport Group will also produce 30-minute highlights shows weekly, featuring all the top action from J.League matches, for global distribution. 

“We are delighted that we have renewed our agreement with World Sport Group. From this year, J.League will be putting more emphasis on Asia to obtain leadership in the region. As part of our scheme, we signed a partnership agreement with the Thai Premier League. We would like to strengthen the relationship with foreign countries and take necessary actions to be able to broadcast J.League matches overseas,” said Kazumi Ohigashi, Chairman, J.League. 

“In order to achieve our goal, it is essential that we cooperate with World Sport Group. We will deepen the bond with WSG and promote the value of our league together.”

Since 2002, World Sport Group has secured live broadcast coverage for J.League matches in key Asia-Pacific markets including Hong Kong, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Australia and the Middle East, as well as in the U.S., Europe and South America.

Nick Mould, President, East Asia, World Sport Group, said: “As Asia’s most successful professional football league, J.League offers exciting, competitive club football. Interest in J.League outside Japan has increased significantly in recent years and season-long coverage is now available on every major continent. 

“We look forward to continue working with J.League to grow its audiences on a global level.”

by Ismail Uddin

Chelsea, check the English Premier League soccer champion, erectile is looking to Asia’s surging economy for its first stadium sponsor.

Ben Wells, the club’s head of marketing, says conditions in the global economy mean takers are likely to come from the east.

“We are in Asia, absolutely,” Wells said in an interview. “There are a lot of brands in these markets who eventually are going to outstrip their domestic demand and look to launch internationally. What better platform than the global footprint the Premier League provides?”

The Blues’ principal sponsor is South Korean consumer goods maker Samsung Electronics Co and the club sponsors the Asian Football Confederation, an organization responsible for soccer in 46 countries.

“The Asian market is colossal,” Wells said. “If you look at the AFC, they represent two-thirds of the world’s population.”

Current market conditions aren’t easy because sponsorship is being passed through greater internal rigor in terms of return on investment, according to Wells.

“The right partner will come along at the right time,” he said.

The Blues’ commercial revenue of 52 million pounds in 2009 is less than six of its European rivals’, according to accountant Deloitte LLP.

Source: Bloomberg

Eurosport überträgt zwei Spiele der deutschen Frauen-Nationalmannschaft live vom Algarve Cup.

Der Spartensender zeigt zunächst die Partie der DFB-Auswahl gegen Schweden am Montag ab 16.30 Uhr (MEZ) in voller Länge. Die Anstoßzeit wurde für die Live-Übertragung um eine halbe Stunde nach hinten verschoben.

Zudem strahlt Eurosport das Platzierungsspiel des amtierenden Europameisters am Mittwoch, arthritis 7. März, aus. Spielort und Anstoßzeit hängen in erster Linie davon ab, um welchen Rang das deutsche Team spielt. Sollte die DFB-Auswahl ins Finale kommen, kämen zwei Uhrzeiten in Frage. Wenn im Endspiel auch Japan stehen sollte, wäre auf Grund einer Sendeverpflichtung im japanischen Fernsehen die Anstoßzeit um 14.10 Uhr (MEZ). Bei jedem anderen Gegner würde die Partie um 18 Uhr (MEZ) angepfiffen werden.

Der scheidende DFB-Präsident Theo Zwanziger hatte zuletzt die öffentlich-rechtlichen Sender ARD und ZDF für den Verzicht der Übertragung kritisiert, gibt allerdings zu: „Es herrscht keine Atmosphäre im Stadion, in der man Spitzen-Frauenfußball präsentieren muss“, sagte Zwanziger in der „Sport Bild“.

ARD-Sportkoordinator Axel Balkausky betonte dagegen, dass das Erste noch nie den Algarve-Cup übertragen habe, was auch an der fehlenden Stimmung im Stadion liege. In den kleinen Stadien an Portugals Südküste ist das Zuschauerinteresse stets nur sehr gering. Meistens verlieren sich nur wenige Dutzend Urlauber auf den Tribünen.

Das ZDF hatte 2008 und 2009 aus Portugal berichtet. ZDF-Sportchef Dieter Gruschwitz führte als Gründe für den Verzicht Probleme bei den Verhandlungen mit den Rechteinhabern aber auch sinkendes Interesse für Frauen-Länderspiele nach der FIFA Frauen-WM 2011 an. 

Ukraine intends to build on hosting the Euro 2012 tournament by staging the finals of the Champions League and Europa League in subsequent years, a deputy prime minister said.

Ukraine is co-hosting the next European Football Championships with Poland, with matches to be played in Kiev, Lvov, Kharkov and Donetsk.

Boris Kolesnikov, who is overseeing the preparations for the tournament, said one of the four cities could host a European club final as early as 2013.

“Ukraine will submit two requests: to hold the Champions League final and the final of the Europa League,” Kolesnikov said,

“Of those tournaments that are free for years, we can talk about 2013,” the deputy prime minister said. “An application must be submitted in 2011.”

UEFA, European football’s governing body, has consistently expressed concern over the pace of Ukraine’s preparations for the Euro 2012 tournament. The stadiums in Kiev and Lvov are still under construction and the Ukrainian capital was only confirmed as the venue for the final in December last year, seven months after UEFA signed off on all four Polish host cities.

Besides the more rapid construction of sports facilities, UEFA has said Ukraine must improve its roads, and ensure sufficient accommodation for tournament guests and the proper operation of airports.

TuneIn, a free service that lets people listen to music, sports and news from around the world, and talkSPORT, the United Kingdom’s biggest national commercial sports broadcaster, announced today a strategic partnership to bring talkSPORT’s award-winning lineup of sports conversation and live football to TuneIn listeners.

This new agreement significantly broadens the service’s already-vast selection of sports broadcasting to its more than 30 million listeners.

The partnership provides a platform for further digital growth for talkSPORT, which has one of the most successful online and social media presences of any UK commercial radio station.

Beyond making talkSPORT available via TuneIn, the companies will cooperate on various marketing and advertising initiatives.

talkSPORT is the current Sony Radio Academy UK Radio Station of the Year and has enjoyed significant audience growth in recent years, now reaching 3.2 million listeners a week. talkSPORT is an official partner of the Barclays Premier League, broadcaster of UEFA EURO 2012 and was the exclusive UK rights holder for the IRB Rugby World Cup 2011.

“We are pleased to become TuneIn’s first strategic content partner in the UK,” said Jimmy Buckland, Director of Strategy, talkSPORT. “This partnership builds on our strategy to grow the talkSPORT brand both in the UK and around the world, allowing us to reach out to new listeners with our award-winning line-up of presenters and live sport.”

Kevin Straley, Vice President of Programming, TuneIn, said: “By partnering with talkSPORT, we further enrich the sports fan’s experience and provide access to some of the globe’s top sports programming. Through the addition of talkSPORT’s deep sports coverage to our current offering of more than 50,000 stations, TuneIn continues to deliver on the promise of offering the broadest listening experience in the world.”

by Ismail Uddin

League One side Charlton Athletic have rejected a takeover bid from a group led by Swiss-based fund manager Sebastien Sainsbury.

A senior source at the club said the offer had not provided proof of funds.

Sainsbury, a member of the supermarket dynasty, fronted a failed attempt to buy Leeds United in 2004.

Former Leeds United and Cardiff City chairman Peter Ridsdale has denied recent press speculation he is involved in a rival US bid for the Addicks.

That bid is being advised by Bradley Rangell, the managing director of Citibank’s sports finance unit.

Rangell, who has been involved in a number of high-profile takeovers in American sport, has previously made attempts to buy Cardiff City and Hull City.

Sainsbury’s interest in the club first came to light when he registered a takeover vehicle called Charlton Athletic 2010 Ltd in July.

Sainsbury, the great grandson of supermarket chain founder John James Sainsbury, is listed as the sole shareholder of that firm but his group is understood to also include a local property developer.

BBC Sport understands his offer has divided opinion on Charlton’s five-man board with at least two directors concerned about the level of borrowing involved.

European Head of ESPN has suggested Premier League clubs could be set for another huge cash windfall if the “realistic prospect” of Al Jazeera challenging rival Sky for the UK television rights comes to fruition.

The English Premier League is the world’s richest football league and its last three-year television deal, which runs out next season, brought in £3.5 billion ($5.4 billion), of which £1.4 billion was paid by foreign broadcasters.

In Britain, Sky shows the lion’s share of matches to a UK domestic audience, while fellow satellite station ESPN broadcasts a lesser number of live matches and the terrestrial BBC screens highlights.

Qatar-based Al Jazeera, best known for its news coverage of the Middle East, made rival television stations sit up and take notice when it beat Canal Plus to the French Ligue 1 and Champions League rights.

Their victory followed on the heels of Qatar Sports Investments (QSI) acquiring the majority shareholding of Ligue 1 outfit Paris Saint Germain.

Ross Hair, ESPN’s head of Europe, Middle East and Africa, believes Al Jazeera could challenge Sky for the next three-year contract — a move which if successful would put a major dent in Sky’s existing business plan.

“We’re expecting another Premier League auction in April or May,” Hair told Tuesday’s London Evening Standard. “An Al Jazeera bid is a realistic prospect.

“They have done something very interesting in France in buying first division football against the incumbent satellite broadcaster Canal Plus and we’ve also looked at what they’ve done in other markets.

“You can draw parallels with the upcoming auction in the UK. Al Jazeera have the ambition to grow further in sport and into other markets.”

ESPN, which has its roots in North America, are also set to enter the next auction as they look to maintain their share of the Premier League market — the station currently shows 23 live matches a season.

Premier League football has been one of the major drivers of Sky subscriptions and ever since its entry into English football in the 1990s it has not faced a rival broadcast network of comparable financial strength.

Qatar has not, historically, been a major football nation but it was catapulted into prominence when awarded the right to stage the 2022 World Cup.

by Ismail Uddin

The Asian Tour have replaced ESPN-Star Sports as their official broadcasters and entered into a six-year deal with soon-to-be-launched TV channel Ten Golf on Tuesday, it has been reported.

The deal that will be operational from 2013 will see Ten Golf showcasing the cream of Asian talent along with 20 live events of the Tour each year. 

The channel also extended their rights with the European Tour for a similar period, which will add up to 200 days of live golf between these two tours every year. 

Sources have put the cumulative deal at $12 million for the six-year period. 

Confirming the news, Asian Tour senior director (commercial) Eric Lynge said: “We are thrilled with this new partnership. The appeal of the Asian Tour has grown tremendously in India especially with the success of Order of Merit winners Jeev Milkha Singh, Arjun Atwal and Jyoti Randhawa over the years.” 

This is part of vigorous acquisitions done by the channel to constantly expand content on their 24-hour platform after they entered into a three-year contract with the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) and then the US Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) recently. 

On the other hand, European Tour’s director of broadcasting Mark Lichtenhein said that inclusion of golf in 2016 Olympics will only bolster its popularity in India. “We are delighted to extend our relationship with Ten Sports and believe that there is enormous potential for golf in India particularly following its reintroduction as an Olympic sport in 2016,” Lichtenhein told TOI. 

Meanwhile, Ten Golf has also inked a one-year licensing deal with NBC Universal International Television Distribution for 400 hours of programming from the US-based Golf Channel. The channel will air popular golf events – including PGA Championship and Ryder Cup besides programmes like: Golf Central and Playing Lessons.

by Ismail Uddin