Football Federation Australia (FFA) chairman Frank Lowy has said he is confident Australia will be successful in its bid to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

A FIFA delegation begins a three-day inspection of the country today, abortion where it will visit and evaluate stadiums, herbal training facilities and hotels.

And Lowy is confident the delegation will like what it sees. He said: “I feel optimistic and I feel we have made a good case. There is sympathy for Australia. We are well known for staging world-class events and meet the best standards.

“We have been talking to the [FIFA] executive committee members, I expect come December the world will be in favour of Australia for 2022.”

Australia is competing with the United States, Qatar, South Korea and Japan to host the 2022 tournament.

Australia had originally intended to bid for the 2018 competition, but dropped out when it became clear FIFA wanted a European host.

Sports broadcaster Sky Sports will have exclusive rights to MMA’s Cage Warriors Fighting Championship (CWFC) events in 2012 after signing a 12-month contract with the London-based organisation.

The deal will see all ten scheduled CWFC shows next year broadcast on one of Sky Sports’ four channels (Sky Sports 1, 2, 3 & 4).

Sky’s coverage will begin on February 9 for Cage Warriors Fight Night 3 in the Middle East.

Cage Warriors director Graham Boylan, said: “The Cage Warriors Team have worked extremely hard over the past year by pulling off 10 shows in three different countries.

“2012 will be an even bigger year as we visit six different countries with another 10 shows. The following 12 months will see two eight-man tournaments and every Cage Warriors champion we have will be defending their belts.

“You will see the best professional athletes in the world competing and to have them showcase their skills on Sky Sports is a great step forward and a reward for all the hard work they put into their training every day in the gym.”

Cage Warriors was established in 2001 and staged its first MMA event in London in July, 2002.

The National Hockey League (NHL) and the All-Russia State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company (VGTRK | RTR) have announced the signing of an agreement giving the Russian broadcaster the rights to telecast live NHL games.

VGTRK | RTR will show multiple games per week, which will be shared between their free-to-air channel Rossiya 2 and their sports channel Sport 1. Rossiya 2 is received by more than 80 million people and Sport 1 by more than 3.5 million, making this deal a significant addition to the League’s International TV distribution.

John Collins, NHL chief operating officer, said: “Providing NHL games on television in Russia is important given that some of the League’s biggest stars such as Alex Ovechkin, Pavel Datsyuk and Evgeni Malkin were born, grew up and began their hockey careers there. This agreement is one way we are providing fans throughout Russia with the NHL content that they demand and the ability to follow their hometown heroes throughout their NHL careers.”

The addition of VGTRK | RTR as a broadcast partner follows a number of distribution agreements reached this season with international broadcasters throughout Europe, the Middle East and Africa, as well as the landmark distribution partnership between the NHL and MTG to provide live coverage of all 1,230 regular-season games and every Stanley Cup Playoff game throughout the Nordic region, including Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Norway.

Mediaset Spain has acquired the rights to broadcast several matches of the Copa del Rey, Spain’s premier soccer competition.

The package includes live coverage of six games for the next round of this year’s knockout tournament, two games of the second round, two games of the quarterfinals and two semifinals. The meetings will take place in early 2012.

The media group led by Paolo Vasile has not yet indicated whether shocks are issued by Four football or Telecinco. Viewers have also the possibility to follow the tournament through Mitel, the Mediaset TV platform Spain, which broadcast live and simultaneously six collision free, and accessed from any PC, tablet or smartphone.

Mediaset Spain reinforces its commitment to major sporting events between the content of their channels to the next year, among which are the European Football Championship in Poland and Ukraine and World motorcycling.

The 2011 edition of the Copa del Rey, played April 20 in which were crowned champions Real Madrid against Barcelona, ​​became the most-watched broadcast of the classic clash between two teams of all time.

Leading commercial broadcaster RTL have acquired the media rights to the 2012–15 Europa League in the Netherlands, UEFA announced.

RTL will continue to show, via its channel RTL7, the best UEFA Europa League live match per kick-off slot, as well as a highlights programme each matchnight. This award of rights will ensure the same extensive free-to-air coverage of the competition in the Netherlands.

All rights have been granted on a platform-neutral basis, with the rights also being exploited on the internet through RTL’s website and on mobile.

All 15 matches of the 2011 South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Championship, medstore South Asia’s premier football competition will be broadcast live on YouTube from December 2nd when the tournament kicks-off.

In a deal with World Sport Group, SAFF’s exclusive marketing and media partner, YouTube will not only provide the platform for live streaming of the SAFF Championship matches, but clips of all the top action from every match will also be posted on each game day.

The live matches will be accessible globally through http://www.youtube.com/SAFFChampionship except in India, where they will be available on a delayed basis the following day.

In addition, a full archive of match highlights from the 2009 edition of the event is already available on the site.

John Vamvakitis, YouTube Head of Sport Partnerships, Asia-Pacific, said: “We are thrilled to expand our partnership with World Sport Group and have our platform for live-streaming used to help national associations and leagues make deeper connections with their fans wherever they are in the world.”

James Clarke, Senior Vice-President, Content, World Sport Group, added: “We are pleased to make the 2011 SAFF Championship available live on YouTube. Now, football fans all over the world can catch all the action live, or relive the event’s top moments on demand through the highlights videos.”

The SAFF Championship is a biennial competition that is contested by SAFF’s eight member nations Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.   Defending champions India will host the seventh edition of the event to be held from December 2nd to 11th.

The America East Conference and ESPN have announced a new five-year broadcast deal that will significantly increase the league’s number of national appearances on ESPN networks through the 2015-16 season.

The 2011-12 package will include a minimum of 47 national appearances on ESPN platforms, therapy the most in league history. The deal also includes flexibility that could increase that total in future years.

America East Commissioner Amy Huchthausen, buy said: “For the last 24 years, medicine America East’s collaboration with ESPN has been a key component of extending our reach and strengthening our national brand. We are excited to continue this relationship as we look ahead.”

As part of the agreement, the conference’s men’s basketball championship game will air on ESPN2, the 25th straight year the America East title game will air on ESPN or ESPN2. The women’s championship game will be distributed to regional sports networks via ESPN Regional Television and also carried on ESPN3, ESPN’s multi-screen sports network available through an affiliated internet or video provider online via WatchESPN.com, on smartphones and tablets via the WatchESPN app and through ESPN on Xbox LIVE.

For the fifth straight year, ESPNU will televise a men’s regular-season conference game when Stony Brook hosts Boston U. on Jan. 27 in a rematch of last year’s America East Championship game. Additionally 11 regular-season basketball games, four postseason contests and the men’s lacrosse championship game will be carried exclusively on ESPN3.

“With more appearances on the ESPN family of networks than ever before, America East fans from coast to coast will have more access to our games than any previous season,” said Huchthausen. “The availability of these games on several platforms, including ESPN3, WatchESPN apps and ESPN on Xbox LIVE will give fans several viewing options as well as help us reach and create a new generation of America East fans.”

America East’s exclusive ESPN3 package, which will consist of seven men’s games and four women’s games in the regular season, kicks off Jan. 14 with Stony Brook visiting Boston U. in a matchup of the top two preseason favorites on the men’s side. The first America East women’s game ever broadcast nationally will pair UMBC, the preseason favorite, and Boston U., which reached the league’s title game last season, on Jan. 25. Other marquee matchups include Vermont and Boston U. squaring off in a matchup of the last two men’s champions on Feb. 1. A rematch of last season’s women’s title game takes place Feb. 25 when Boston U. visits Hartford.

ESPN3 will carry the semifinals of the America East Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championship presented by Newman’s Own on March 4. The tournament, which will be held at University of Hartford’s Chase Arena at Reich Family Pavilion for the third straight year, takes place March 1-4 with the men’s title game being played on Saturday, March 10 at 11 a.m. The women’s championship game date and time are to be determined based on television clearance availability.

Damon Phillips, Vice President of ESPN3, said: “The America East Conference supports our best available screen philosophy and has recognized ESPN3 as a leading destination and key distribution outlet for reaching college sports fans. We are looking forward to delivering exclusive games through the 2015-16 season to our multi-screen viewing audience.”

ESPN3 is available in approximately 70 million homes at no cost to fans who receive a high-speed Internet connection or video subscription from an affiliated provider. Major cable providers within the America East footprint that provide ESPN3 access are Burlington Telecom, Comcast, Cox, RCN, Time Warner Cable andVerizon FiOS TV. The network is also available at no cost to approximately 21 million U.S. college students and U.S.-based military personnel via computers connected to on-campus educational networks and on-base military networks.

Games on ESPN2, ESPN3 and ESPNU are also accessible through WatchESPN, ESPN’s authenticated networks service. The networks are currently available to Time Warner Cable, Verizon FiOS TV and Bright House Networks subscribers online at WatchESPN.com and on smartphones and tablets via the WatchESPN app.  Once users visit WatchESPN, they will receive instructions to enter the appropriate cable subscriber credentials to begin accessing ESPN content from their PC, laptop, smartphone or tablet device.

UEFA have announced today that they have awarded 2012–15 UEFA Champions League media rights to Cyta in Cyprus.

Cyta has been awarded the media rights for all matches, cialis except the best Wednesday match. The pay television operator will show on each matchnight a minimum of four live games across the Cytavision Sports family of channels, viagra 60mg including the best Tuesday match, as well as a highlights programme.

All rights have been granted on a platform-neutral basis, with the rights also being exploited on the internet via the broadcasters website and on mobile.