The Levy on bookmakers which generates money for horse racing was increased by the UK government yesterday, site February 16, from 10 per cent to 10.75 per cent in what the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) claim is a “major step in dealing with long-standing failings of the current system.”

The 50th Levy Scheme was announced by Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt, by which betting helps toward funding the sport in Britain, with horse racing relying heavily on the betting industry unlike any other sport so the increase comes as a welcome boost to allay fears for the future of the sport.

Mr Hunt acted after talks between the bookmakers and racing industry stalled and stated: “It is really disappointing that two important industries have been unable to come to a sensible commercial agreement.”

The increase means the Levy planned for what is the second most attended sport, employing thousands of people, in 2011/12 should be between US$118m to $130.4m, he added.

Concerns have risen from the BHA of late with, among other issues, some bookmakers moving offshore, meaning that they do not have to pay the horseracing betting Levy on the right to take bets on British races.

Cash from the levy, a major funding mechanism which has been in decline, goes towards veterinary science, prize money, training and breeding programs. As part of the new deal, the threshold level under which betting shops will pay a reduced rate of levy will fall from $143.236 to $80,705.

In response to the latest decision, BHA chairman Paul Roy stated:

“Racing welcomes today’s decision by Secretary of State Jeremy Hunt as a major step in dealing with long-standing failings of the current system. It will halt the severe decline in the Levy, and the damage this is doing to the sport.

“The Coalition Government could not right all the wrongs in the current system with this decision, but they have addressed issues with traditional LBOs, and have signalled fundamental reform to come. The next stage has to deliver what is due from remote betting, particularly offshore operators and betting exchanges.

“The range this decision sets is therefore short of the full amount the entire betting industry should be contributing, but today’s announcement is an important shift in achieving Racing United’s goals.

“The rise in the headline rate is significant, as is the major reduction in the threshold level, and shows that nothing is set in stone.

“We believe that it is only through major reform that full and fair return, and the environment for real and constructive negotiation, on a level playing field, can be achieved. As we told the Secretary of State in November, we will devote our energies in the coming months to working with Government on this.”

The process by which World Championships and conferences are allocated by the World Squash Federation (WSF) has been radically altered in what the organisation claim is a new forward plan for the sport.

In order to ensure that all regions of the world can host their share of Squash related events, therapy the WSF have scrapped the fact that until now, viagra sale member nations wanting to host have simply applied for the opportunity.

The WSF has now introduced a new regime in which the five regions of the world have been allocated all the Federation’s events and conferences right through to the year 2020 in WSF chief executive Andrew Shelley claims is a “fairer spread, pills with more certainty – and better all round.”

In 2014, for example, Pan America will stage the Women’s World Team Championship; while Europe will take the WSF Development Conference and WSF Federations Conference; Africa will host the Men’s World Junior Individual & Team Championships (with the Women’s Junior Individual Championship alongside); Asia will have the World Doubles and WSF AGM; and Oceania the World Masters.

A series of guidelines will be issued later this year by the British Olympic Association (BOA) with regards to the use of social media outlet Twitter, anesthetist to all 26 sports participating at the London 2012 Games in what is a clear attempt to stave off unwanted headlines.

However, stomach the BOA have looked to play down the fact that any rules or restrictions are being set, herbal insisting that the guidelines will not be enforced, but are merely strongly advised.

The organisation clain that they will simply offer helpful advice to Olympic sports and their athletes on what the BOA deems effective and ineffective use of the social networking phenomenon.

The BOA Head of Olympic Media and Communications Strategy, Darryl Seibel spoke to insidethegames, stating: “Social media outlets such as Twitter have undoubtedly become an extremely effective and efficient method of communication for many athletes.

“We are hugely supportive of athletes using Twitter, fully aware of how important it is and conscious of the positive effect it can have, particularly in terms of getting younger generations involved in the Olympic Games and the Olympic Movement.

“We are fully behind that.The guidelines we will be issuing to the individual governing bodies are exactly that; guidelines. They will only provide guidance and give useful advice but athletes will in no way be restricted to say whatever it is that they want to say.

“It will also be up to individual sports themselves to set rules.”

Penske Racing announced that it has reached a mutl-year extension of its partnership with PPG Industries and that Guidepoint Systems has joined Team Penske’s partnership lineup. Both companies will serve as primary and associate sponsors of the Nos. 3 and 6 cars during the 2011 IZOD IndyCar Series season.

Guidepoint Systems, an industry-leading vehicle tracking service available through more than 2,5000 new and pre-owned dealerships, will be the primary sponsor of the No. 3 entry driven by Helio Castroneves at five races this season — including the opener at St. Petersburg on March 27 — and Ryan Briscoe’s No. 6 car at two events. Additionally, Guidepoint Systems will be a full-season associate sponsor on the No. 3 car.

Rand Mueller, founder and CEO of Guidepoint, said: “It is a great opportunity to partner with Penske Racing to showcase the safety, security, convenience and pin-point accuracy of Guidepoint Systems location-based services. Team Penske is a proven winner and we look forward to working with Helio, Ryan and the entire team beginning this season.”

Beginning its 32nd season working with Penske Racing, PPG is the world’s leading coatings and specialty products company. It will be the primary sponsor of the No. 6 car at the races at Milwuakee, Iowa and Kentucky. It also will be an associate sponsor on all three Team Penske cars.

Director of Business Development at PPG, stated: “PPG has such a great history with Penske and we are excited about the opportunity to grow and develop this unique partnership even further. We look forward to being a part of Penske Racing’s winning teams in both NASCAR and IndyCar this season as we continue our very successful relationships with the other Penske business properties.”

The President of Russia, tadalafil Dmitry Medvedev believes residents in the 2014 Olympic host city of Sochi will benefit from a legacy of state-of-the-art infrastructure when the Winter Games come to a close.

Over US$30 billion has been set aside by the Russian government to sanction the construction of hundreds of facilities and infrastructure projects in and around Sochi. Medvedev confirmed on Tuesday 4 January that four Olympic venues will be moved to nearby Vladikavkaz, anesthetist | Rostov-on-Don, purchase Astrakhan and Stavropol after the Games.

In a meeting with Olympic project officials, Medvedev stated “We should look forward to the post-Olympic future. The Olympics is, of course, a major sports event, but it is also important for us that there should be many new facilities for life and for pleasure in Sochi,.

He added “It is important that this high level that will be reached at any cost during the Olympics should remain for the residents of the Krasnodar region and for tourists. Our goal is to make Sochi an internationally renowned resort.”

Medvedev revealed that 85% of funding allocated for the Games will be put towards new infrastructure, tourism development and environmental projects.

Figures have been released by Sport England showing a significant increase in participation of numerous sporting activities, moving closer to the British Government’s aims to get one million people playing more sport by 2012/13.

The results show that events such as athletics and cycling have strongly increased over the last two years along with the likes of netball. The two major sports however, which receive over two million weekly participants – soccer and swimming – have both seen decreases in participation rates.

Overall the figures show that 6,938,000 people now take part in a sporting activity at least three times a week.

 The Government is now 123,000 people closer to their one million target.

Running has seen a participation boost by over 263,000 people over the past two years with cycling figures up by almost 100,000 and netball by 26,000, a growth of a fifth in the size of the sport over the same period.

Sport England’s Chief Executive, Jennie Price, said: “It would be fair to describe today’s results as a mixed bag. It’s good to see a wide range of sports – from individual pursuits like running to small team sports like lacrosse – demonstrating that, with the right approach, increasing grassroots participation is a realistic ambition.”

“What is concerning, however, is that a number of major sports have yet to deliver, despite significant levels of investment. They now urgently need to demonstrate their ability to grow participation in their sport and prove they can make a significant contribution to sport at the grassroots level.”

The proposed takeover of National Hockey League (NHL) side the Phoenix Coyotes has moved further considerably after a new lease was agreed for the NHL team at Jobing.com Arena by the Glendale City Council.

Matt Hulsizer is hoping to renew the fortunes of the side which went into bankruptcy and has taken a huge step in doing so following the recent decision. The council voted 5-2 in favour of a lease which will cost the city US$197m over a six-year period. Hulsizer’s buy-out is now expected pending an approval from the NHL’s board of governors.

Hulsizer will receive $100m for parking rights from the city and a further $97m as a fee for operating Jobing.com Arena, giving him the option to buy the Arena after five years. The latest decision was seen as Hulsizer’s biggest obstacle and now a buy-out could be completed within a matter of weeks.

“I’m happy the council went this way and the hard work starts now,” said Hulsizer. “We have a long process, but in the end I think we’re going to build a great product.”

Hulsizer said he doesn’t expect the Coyotes to make money “for a long time”, but he added: “I will tell you that 10 or 15 years from now, I think, along with the economy, things are going to come back.”

Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO), the company which runs the Tour de France, were boosted by lance Armstrong’s comeback from retirement in 2009 which helped add around US$32m in sales.

The 39-year-old cycling legend returned to the event after three years and competed in a toughly fought and much anticipated duel with Alberto Contador which ASO stated was “certainly not irrelevant to the success”. The comeback encouraged business from the likes of Volkswagen AG’s Skoda and France Telecom SA’s Orange amongst its agreements.

Sales from ASO’s sports events rose 20 per cent to $195.4m with the global television audience of the Tour increasing 10 per cent. Net income fell 1.2 per cent to $42.3m.

Contador went on to win the battle in 2009 whilst Armstrong finished third on his return. The veteran finished 23rd this year in what will be his last in the Tour.

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Netball took the first step on the road to joining the Asian sports family by making a presentation to the Olympic Council of Asia’s Sports Committee on Thursday. A popular women’s team sport in several countries around the world, view mainly from the Commonwealth, advice netball’s goal is to become recognised by the OCA and join initially the SEA Games and Asian Indoor Games.

The presentation was made by Cyrus Medora, anabolics Executive Director of Netball Singapore and Treasurer of the Asian Netball Federation. Describing the sport as “dynamic and exciting”, he played Sports Committee members a short clip of the recent Commonwealth Games final between Australia and New Zealand in Delhi.

Mr. Medora explained that the International Netball Federation (IFNA) had 68 members from Asia, Europe, America, Africa and Oceania, and IFNA was the sole internationally-recognised governing body.

With a global playing base of 20 million, netball has been a recognised Olympic sport since 1995 and has featured in the World Games in 1985, 1989 and 1993. The top 10 countries in the world rankings are: 1, Australia; 2, New Zealand; 3, England; 4, Jamaica; 5, Fiji; 6, South Africa; 7, Malawi; 8, Trinidad and Tobago; 9, Samoa; 10, Cook Islands.

The Asian Netball Federation has 13 full members and five associate members, with a secretariat in both Singapore and Australia.

The Asian rankings based on based on the 7th Asian Netball Championship in 2009 are: 1, Sri Lanka; 2, Singapore; 3, Malaysia; 4, Thailand; 5, Hong Kong; 6, Chinese Taipei; 7, India; 8, Maldives; 9, Pakistan.

The World Netball Championship 2011 will be hosted in Singapore next July, when the world’s top 16 teams will be competing and ESPN will be the broadcaster for worldwide coverage.

One of the key issues for netball to be recognised by the OCA is for the various netball associations to be part of their National Olympic Committee, as some of the Asian members are not recognised by their own NOC.