A multi-year extension agreement has been reached between UEFA and Eurosport to see the Europe’s leading sports entertainment group continute to cover its youth, women and futsal competitions.

Annual editions of the men’s and women’s European Championships at Under-19 and Under-17 levels, the Women’s Champions League final and European Women’s Championship 2011-13. The agreement also encompasses the yearly futsal club competition, UEFA Futsal Cup, and the national team futsal competition, European Futsal Championship 2011-12 are all covered under the deal which runs to 2013.

Extensive live and delayed coverage of the competitions will be broadcast on the Eurosport and Eurosport 2 channels. Eurosport has been awarded the media rights on a platform-neutral basis, enabling the broadcaster to provide multi-platform coverage on television, the Internet and via mobile. In addition, Eurosport will also bear responsibility for the host broadcasting of the competitions.

Guy-Laurent Epstein, marketing director of UEFA Events SA, UEFA’s commercial and event management subsidiary, said: “The wide pan-European coverage provided by Eurosport has been a key element for the development and further growth of our youth, women and futsal competitions.”

Epstein added: “UEFA believes that Eurosport will build on the growing interest to further increase the profile of these competitions in Europe by providing great visibility and allowing fans to have access to a variety of UEFA competitions.”

Professional services firm, click EY, today renewed their sponsorship of the Ulster Rugby team for a further three years after the success of their 18-month deal signed last year.

This announcement comes as EY looks to roll out their Ulster Rugby Career Development Programme, a unique mentoring initiative aimed at supporting Ulster Rugby players as they plan their future careers after retiring from the game.

Michael Hall, Managing Partner, EY Northern Ireland, commented: “We are looking forward to continuing our work alongside Ulster Rugby as official sponsors of the team, not only to support the players’ sporting careers but to also assist them in clarifying their professional aspirations after rugby.  By opening up our networks, providing relevant advice and facilitating immersive learning experiences, we are furthering our strategy to support and develop talent in business and sport throughout the island of Ireland.”

Phillip Polack, Business Development Manager at Ulster Rugby commented, “Ulster Rugby is delighted to extend our relationship with EY, a professional brand known all over the world, and for Ulster Rugby to continue its association is yet another step forward for our organisation. We are excited to be working with Michael and the EY team and look forward to exploring these opportunities over the coming years.”

Hall concluded: “Professional sport is a powerful metaphor for business. Facing fierce competition, building effective teams and developing both long and short term strategies are just some of the key areas where business and sport overlap and, through this mentoring initiative, we hope to capitalise on these similarities to make the transition to a career off the pitch as smooth as possible for the Ulster Rugby players.”

Castleford Tigers have announced that we have signed an exclusive five-year deal with rugby brand “XBlades”.

The deal will see XBlades become the club’s new official kit supplier from the 2015 Super League Season. The partnership will also see XBlades supplying all the club’s off-field leisure apparel, footwear and protection.

The partnership will commence for the 2015 season with a new home and away jersey expected to be available for supporters from early November 2014. There will also be a wide range of off-field leisure apparel.

Castleford Tigers general manager Richard Pell said: “We are delighted to have signed a long term deal with Australian brand XBlades, who we feel are the leading brand in rugby for being innovative, modern in design and have a track record of producing strong retail sales by delivering a product the fans will love. It’s a great deal for us and one that made sense for the clubs interests going forward.”

Jason Robinson OBE and a Director of XBlades said, “We are thrilled that Castleford Tigers have agreed to sign on with XBlades. Castleford Tigers recent success & exciting plans for the future are something we want to be a part of. They’re a well-established club with an unbelievably passionate following.”

International Sailing Federation (ISAF) organisers of the 2011 World Championships in Perth have announced that Network Ten, one of Australia’s three major commercial television networks, has secured the exclusive broadcast rights to the event.

Perth 2011 event director, John Longley stated: With the coverage planned by Network Ten, sports lovers around the country will have the opportunity to follow the excitement of live sailing, the fortunes of individual Australian and international athletes and to see and feel the buzz that this event is bringing to Perth.”

Network Ten will show 30 hours of coverage featuring a mixture of live racing and daily highlight packages under the terms of the deal.

The coverage of the event will utilise the latest technological advancements in broadcasting, including electronic positioning used to track the progress of boats as well as on deck cameras providing audiences with a crew’s eye view of the action.

Longley added: “This is going to be one of the most accessible sailing events the world has seen. The Network Ten coverage means that our potential audience extends from the shores of Fremantle to almost every television set throughout Australia.”

Under the orders of the Supreme Court, the bids were opened in the presence of Justice Mukul Mudgal due to an ongoing dispute between the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and World Sport Group (WSG), its estranged sports marketing partner.

An escrow account has been established to ensure that any rights fees paid by Times Internet Limited to the BCCI will be kept in the account until the dispute with WSG is resolved as the organisation filed a formal complaint after the BCCI, citing financial irregularities, ripped up a commercial agreement contract struck between the agency and now-suspended IPL commissioner Lalit Modi.

WSG had initially hoped that the Supreme Court would prevent the tender from being issued however, it still welcomed the order to freeze any payments to the BCCI, with chairman and CEO Seamus O’Brien stating: “In effect, the order protects our long-term rights and that of our partners, and also our revenues pending the final legal outcome of the case, and that is what we had sought to preserve.”

The statement to ESPNcricinfo continued to reiterate that the agency will take “whatever further actions are necessary around the world and particularly in key markets to protect its rights and interests, and that of its licensees who have invested in the success of the IPL, as a result of the illegal termination of its agreements by the BCCI, and their subsequent actions”.