Swiss financial services company UBS has been confirmed as the title sponsor of Formula One’s Chinese Grand Prix as part of a deal signed last August.

Despite declining to reveal the value of the deal, sickness UBS has agreed a naming rights sponsor of the circuit after Sinopec cut their ties with the Grand Prix in 2009. The previous deal saw Sinopec agree to pay an annual sum of US$20m to be title sponsors of the race.

The new agreement is believed to have been signed for the next seven years until the current contract for hosting of the Chinese Grand Prix at the Shanghai International Circuit expires.

Last month, allergy Formula One Management agreed to extend the race’s place on the Formula One calendar to 2017 in a new five-year deal.

David Li, head of UBS China, confirmed the deal along with Formula One authorities.

A number of major European soccer clubs were unhappy with the schedule of dates released for next year’s African Cup of Nations by the Confederation of African Football (CAF).

The event will be co-hosted by Gabon and Equatorial Guinea will be played between 21 January and 12 February, with reigning Champions Egypt hoping to retain their crown.

The tournament will begin over a week later than 2010 edition with the opening match played in Bata in Equatorial Guinea, while the final will take place in Libreville.

The one-week delay is not favourable by those European sides who play in leagues which take a winter break. This is because an earlier start to the tournament would have meant that many Europe-based players could compete at the finals without missing domestic matches.

The CAF is yet to fix a date and venue for the draw for the 2012 Nations Cup but FIFA, soccer’s world governing body, laws state that clubs must release their players for the Nations Cup up for 14 days before their opening match.

UK watchdog Ofcom has relaxed its rules on the time allotted for commercial breaks during the programming of televised sport, herbal meaning advertising options have increased.

All major commercial channels will now be permitted to show 12 minutes of advertising per hour, a significant increase from 7 minutes per hour for certain broadcasts. In turn this will cause longer interruptions for the viewing public when watching televised sporting events.

Commercial breaks will now make up around 20 per cent of the running time of an individual programme, despite research proving viewers’ dislike of commercial breaks

Ofcom’s decision comes to appease cash-strapped media channels’ desire to drive increased advertising revenues to pay for programming.

However with new technology and innovations such as Sky-Plus enabling an increasing number of viewers to edit out the adverts altogether, the move by Ofcom is unlikely to quell the calls to relax the rules on product placement within programming itself.

Bahrain Formula One grand prix organisers have announced that the season-opening race has been called off because of the civil unrest sweeping the country with regards to human rights protesters.

The race was due to kick of the 2011 season and be held on 13 March, had been in doubt for more than a week after violent anti-government demonstrations in the country’s capital, Manama, with F1 chief Bernie Ecclestone admitting concerns over the safety and security at the event.

Ecclestone yesterday stated that it would be down to Bahrain Crown Prince Salman to make the decision upon whether the race could go ahead, by today, February 22.

The decision means the Australian grand prix in Melbourne on 27 March will play host to the first round of the 2011 season. The final testing session that had been scheduled for Bahrain from 3-6 March has also been cancelled.

A statement read: “The Bahrain International Circuit today announced that the Kingdom of Bahrain would withdraw from hosting this year’s F1 grand prix race so that the country can focus on its process of national dialogue.”

Several people have been killed and hundreds injured in a crackdown against protesters demanding more say in the running of the Gulf kingdom.

Prince Salman announced his decision to Ecclestone yesterday, February 21, and stated: “At the present time the country’s entire attention is focused on building a new national dialogue for Bahrain. Although Bernie Ecclestone had graciously made clear a decision on the race was entirely Bahrain’s to make and was not yet required, we felt it was important for the country to focus on immediate issues of national interest and leave the hosting of Bahrain’s Formula One race to a later date.

“I would like to extend my personal gratitude to Bernie Ecclestone for his support and understanding. After the events of the past week, our nation’s priority is on overcoming tragedy, healing divisions and rediscovering the fabric that draws this country together, reminding the world of the very best that Bahrain is capable of as a nation once again united.”

It is still believed to possible that the Bahrain grand prix could be rescheduled for later in the year as opposed to being scrapped from the calendar entirely, having been a fixture of the F1 season since 2004.

Ecclestone added: “It is sad that Bahrain has had to withdraw from the race, we wish the whole nation well as they begin to heal their country. The hospitality and warmth of the people of Bahrain is a hallmark of the race there, as anyone who has been at a Bahrain grand prix will testify. We look forward to being back in Bahrain soon.”

According to a report by the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) revealing projections of medal successes at next year’s London Olympics, Australia are set to finish behind Britain, with Russia winning the most medals.

Based on results from World Championships, World Cups and other major international events staged in 2010, Russia is projected to win 97 medals at next year’s Games ahead of 94 for the United States and 93 for China, the AOC said.

However, the US are projected to top the gold medals chart with an estimated 38, pipping China on 37 and Russia on 30.

Britain is fourth, with a projected medal count of 48 medals, made up of 19 gold, 19 silver and 10 bronze, followed by Germany on 47, France on 45 and Japan on 43. 

The findings from the AOC predict that Australia, which finished in sixth place at the 2008 Beijing Olympics with 46 medals, will get four fewer at the next edition, including 11 gold, three less than last time, which could drop them to as low as eighth.

AOC President John Coates stated: “A top five position is still very achievable. There are five countries jostling for fourth and fifth spots who are all very close together.”

An extra $23 million in Government funding to elite sports provided late last year may help lift performances between now and the start of the London Games in July 2012, Coates said: “It took a while coming but it’s kicking in now.”

According to the Associated Press, federally mediated negotiations toward a new National Football League (NFL) labour deal lasted “about eight hours” in Washington, DC on Sunday, 20 February.

The meeting for discussions was the third consecutive day the sides met to try to find common ground before the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) expires on March 4.

The NFL and Players’ Union (NFLPA) have met for “a total of more than 20 hours since Friday” in front of Federal Mediation & Conciliation Service Dir George Cohen.

Cohen requested that neither side comment publicly on these negotiations. A ruling that has thus far been adhered to and therefore it is not clear what, if any, progress is being made.

The president of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah has confirmed that he will be standing for re-election later this year at the general assembly in Tokyo on July 14.

In a letter to OCA executive members and affiliated National Olympic Committees, Sheikh Ahmad stated: “I will be offering myself as a candidate for re-election as the OCA president in the forthcoming general assembly.”

Sheikh Ahmad has held the position as the president of the OCA since 1991 as well as membership of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) since 1992.

He was a supporter of Jordan’s Prince Ali eventual successful bid to oust South Korea’s Chung Mong-joon as the Asian Football Confederation’s (AFC) FIFA vice-president. In an apparent snub to AFC president Mohamed bin Hammam, who is thought to have FIFA leadership ambitions, Sheikh Ahmad announced publicly that all 25 votes which had gone to Prince Ali would also be going to Sepp Blatter in the forthcoming FIFA presidential election.

His letter to OCA officials and directors said: “It has been a singular honour for me to be elected president of the OCA since 1991. It has been a journey which I have cherished very much, especially due to the fact that I have received the whole-hearted support and cooperation of friends and colleagues.

“With your guidance and advice I hope to continue to serve the Asian Olympic Movement to the best of my abilities and capabilities and make the OCA one of the most active and revered continental associations in the world.”

decease helvetica, herbal sans-serif;”>DATE: 5^th April 2011

TIME: 11.00am – 3.00pm (including a stadium tour)

VENUE: Leicestershire County Cricket Club

County Ground

Grace Road

Leicester, LE2 8AD

Notice is herby given of 2011 Annual General Meeting of The Venue Managers Association (formerly UK Stadium Managers Association).

The Managing Secretary, Neil Levett, will firstly introduce the aims, objectives and reasons for the name changes to the assembled audience of members. There will then be a presentation by DC Jim Maietta, from the Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure who will speak on threats and protective security including some UK and international examples and what Venue Managers can do to mitigate risk.

At least one other guest speaker will present a paper and this will be followed by a tour of Leicestershire County Cricket Club for Venue Managers to see, first hand, another colleague’s venue and to discuss the issues they commonly face.

Editors are reminded that membership of UKVMA is open, exclusively, to Managers/Directors of multipurpose venues such as Stadia, Arenas, Athletics Tracks, Racecourses, Dog Tracks, Motor Racing Circuits, Auditoria, Theatres and Exhibition Centre’s and that it is the person who is the member and not the venue.

For further details on UKVMA please contact the Membership Secretary, Sandy Lopes, on

01732 459683, by email sandy@aladltd.co.uk or visit the UKVMA website www.ukvma.org

The Soccerex European Forum on 30-31 March in Manchester has announced that Nike, Konami, Facebook and Lionside will feature in a special session on Digital Media in soccer.

The session, titled ‘Digital Media: The Changing Face of Fan Interaction’, will feature a series of interactive presentations looking at how digital media has moved the goalposts of fan engagement and the different challenges and opportunities presented to the football industry by the new media landscape.

The presentations will be made by Rick Kelley, Head of Mid Market Sales EMEA, Facebook, Florian Stronk, Head of Online Business Development, Konami and Mario Turza, Global Digital Lead, Nike Football. The panel will be chaired by Michael McBride, VP Business Operations at leading sports social gaming company Lionside.

Konami’s Florian Stronk commented on his involvement, stating: “The European Forum is a great opportunity for us to present our involvement in football, including but beyond the gaming aspects that Konami has been known for. It is a rapidly changing business field for license owners as well as for sponsors. This session should bring everyone ‘up to date’ and will surely provide interesting insights into the rapidly evolving monetization and promotion opportunities in the digital space.”