British five-a-side soccer pitch operator Goals Soccer Centres is preparing to launch a sale process within months, according to Sky News.

The company, in which Sports Direct and Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley has an 18.92 percent stake, has drafted in advisers to examine a potential medium-term sale, Sky News said.

The review has been instigated by Lloyds Banking Group Plc, which has hired Deloitte to advise on the company’s future.

Established in 2000 and operating about 50 sites globally, Goals suspended trading in its shares since March amid accounting problems stemming from its tax reporting.

Former Goals Soccer Centres CEO Andy Anson was named chief exec of the British Olympic association last month.

Ralph Lauren Fragrances brand POLO BLUE, launching its official sponsorship of the World Surf League (WSL) Championship Tour this June, has tapped professional surfer and two-time world champion Gabriel Medina as the newest global ambassador.

POLO BLUE will serve as an official sponsor of the WSL Championship Tour and the official fragrance for three key events: Oi Rio Pro in Brazil, Vans U.S. Open of Surf in the U.S. and Meo Rip Curl Pro in Portugal.

The brand will amplify the partnership with a fully integrated marketing campaign including regional pop-up experiences, paid media, influencer partnerships and more.

“We are excited to have Polo Blue back in a big way for our 2019 season,” said Sophie Goldschmidt, WSL CEO. “There are natural synergies between style, confidence and the beauty of our sport – and we are looking forward to a long-standing partnership that highlights these critical pillars of surf.”

“To me, POLO BLUE perfectly embodies the surf lifestyle,” said Medina. “It’s about connecting with the power of the ocean and letting that power fuel you in all areas of your life. I’m excited to give fans a look at the things that inspire me on tour, including my family, travel and much more.”

Football fans come from all walks of life and expect to feel welcomed and represented when they interact with their club. At Levante UD, this approach to inclusivity informs everything that the LaLiga club does.

Valencia-based Levante UD runs 32 different football teams encompassing different age groups, genders and physical abilities.

This not only provides a platform for a wide range of competition. The club defines itself by normalising groups that had previously been marginalised.

Over more than 20 years, an approach has been developed within the club’s foundation to treat all footballers equally. As well as creating sporting success, this has also helped to increase acceptance in wider society.

“For us, the main outcome of playing football is socialisation,” said Vicente Herrero, Director of the Levante UD Foundation. “We have created an environment where both male and female players, with and without physical or intellectual disabilities, are mixing on an almost daily basis. For us it’s a model of not just how a club should run, but a community too.”

Levante UD’s approach to inclusivity can be traced back to 1998 when its women’s team was created. But it did not stop there. One of the cornerstones of the club’s efforts to make football accessible to all has been its Football School for People with Intellectual Disabilities (EDI).

After beginning in 2012, the school has grown in size and is now helping around 150 people fulfil their sporting dreams.

Read the full story in Global Fútbol.

The deciding game of the NHL Stanley Cup Finals on NBC on Wednesday night pulled the biggest audience for an NHL game ever on any U.S. network.

The 4-1 victory of the St. Louis Blues over the Boston Bruins was watched by 8.2 million total viewers.

The victory which gave the Blues the first NHL crown in their 52-year history scored a 6.20 rating in the overnight metered-market results, the highest overnight rating for an NHL game.

St. Louis’s victory gave NBC a 2.5 average rating (the game aired for three hours), compared to a 0.8 for ABC, a 0.6 for Fox and a 0.5 for CBS.

AC Milan has named  Zvonimir Boban as the Club’s Chief Football Officer (CFO), a newly created role  responsible for the co-ordination and oversight of the club’s sporting activities. He will will work closely with the Club’s CEO Ivan Gazidis and the newly appointed Technical Director Paolo Maldini (in photo).

Gazidis said: “I am very excited to welcome Zvone back home, in our Club. I am confident that, thanks to his background, experience and his skill set, Zvone will contribute significantly to the growth and development of our Sporting Area and will lend invaluable support to the Club’s institutional relations with Football bodies. Together with Paolo Maldini, I have at my side two individuals of undisputed quality and competence who are able to convey our vision and build an increasingly competitive and successful AC Milan.”

Preparations for the Paris 2024 Summer Games have made steady progress in a short time, according to the IOC’s Co-Ordination Commission,

“Creating a creative and innovative Olympic Games experience that benefits everyone is at the core of Paris 2024’s mission,” said IOC Coordination Commission Chair Pierre-Olivier Beckers-Vieujant after a second meeting of the group, in Marseille, which will host the sailing and football competitions.

“Paris 2024’s vision that ‘sport can change lives’ is evident in so many of its projects,” said Beckers-Vieujant.

He cited in particular:

• the Terre de Jeux 2024 brand, which extends the Olympic project to the regions of France
• the approach for an open and inclusive economic development and employment plan
• the proposal to host mass participation events during the Games
• ambitious plans for Olympic Day.

“Paris 2024 has made steady progress in a very short amount of time,” he said. “We are in a new era of collaboration and co-creation, as seen with the presence of the International Paralympic Committee and so many local authority partners in Marseille. This is fully in line with the spirit of Olympic Agenda 2020 and its New Norm, as we work to build this project together with a common goal: to plan and organise inspiring and memorable Olympic and Paralympic Games in a responsible and effective way.”

The essence of urban sport was on full display on the first day of the Coordination Commission visit in Marseille, when crowds gathered in the Old Port area to experience a lively and youthful atmosphere that included basketball, BMX, breaking, skateboarding, and sport climbing demonstrations.

At the end of June, the IOC Session will vote on the provisional inclusion of breaking, skateboarding, sport climbing and surfing on the 2024 Olympic programme.

A core objective for Paris 2024 is to ensure that the Games are organised in a sustainable way that will benefit the citizens of France for decades to come. As such, the Organising Committee presented its carbon neutral strategy, and reported on the creation of an endowment fund that will be used to help fund legacy projects linked to Paris 2024.

SOLIDEO, the public body responsible for managing development operations ahead of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, was also on site to update the Coordination Commission on advancements made in the conception for an innovative and sustainable Olympic Village. Not only will the facility be designed to anticipate the evolving challenges facing tomorrow’s generation of residents, but it is also being optimised to welcome athletes for the Games.

Tony Estanguet, President of Paris 2024, said, “This second Coordination Commission meeting comes at an important time in the construction of our project. It shows the progress we have made. A year after we laid the foundations of the Organising Committee, this second meeting has been looking outwards, towards the public at large.“

“We have made the goal of engaging with the sports movement, the public authorities and the people of France one of our main priorities. This desire to get the population involved from the outset is a reflection of our ambition to offer Games that are different, and which make creativity the Paris 2024 hallmark.”

“This desire to innovate and surprise spans every part of our project, for example the opening of some of the Games events to the general public or the celebratory dimension of our project, placing sport at the heart of the city, which has never been done on such a scale before.”

During the meetings, the Organising Committee presented to the IOC and IPC its impressive progress made on governance topics, engagement plans, marketing programmes and more.