Beijing has been selected to host the 2015 IAAF World Championships, sale IAAF Council announced.

The selection of the Chinese capital to host the 15^th edition of the Championships will bring athletics back to the dazzling “Bird’s Nest” Stadium, unhealthy the centerpiece of the 2008 Olympic Games.

“To help build up our sport and the culture of athletics in a country of 1.6 billion inhabitants is a great opportunity, hospital ” said IAAF President Lamine Diack, when making the announcement. “As we sometimes say, China is not a country, it’s a continent. So this is a fantastic opportunity for our sport and for the sport in China.”

Beijing, whose metropolitan area is home to nearly 17 million, will become the third Asian city to host the IAAF World Championships, the world’s third largest sporting event. Tokyo played host in 1991 and Osaka in 2007.

“Beijing hosted a very successful World Junior Championships for us in 2006 and then of course a very memorable Olympic Games in 2008,” Diack added. “So this provides a great opportunity to showcase the Championships in the best possible light in China.”

“This is the most important sporting event for China since the 2008 Olympic Games,” said Liu Jingmin, the Vice Mayor of Beijing.

“We thank you for your trust. We will deliver a high standard event in Beijing which will open a new chapter in Championships’ standards.”

Beijing’s successful bid marks the latest phase of China’s commitment to add to and enhance its athletics legacy.

Entering the 1980s, the Chinese government stressed that “Athletics was the fundamental sport with great influence” and that it was “necessary to improve (the national) athletics programme”, setting the stage for the sport’s significant growth and visibility in the country. Further encouraging its athletics community, in 2002 the General Administration of Sport of China (GASC) positioned athletics as a “focus sport”. In 2006 Beijing hosted the IAAF World Junior Championships where athletes from nearly 180 nations took part. The city has also hosted numerous IAAF Race Walking events, including the 2010 Race Walking Challenge Final, and the Beijing International Marathon, an IAAF Gold Label Road Race, this year celebrated it’s 30^th running.

“We believe that our bid to host the highest profile athletics competition in the world will serve to further promote the development of athletic sports across the world,” said Duan Shijie, Chairman of the Chinese Athletic Association.

“Hosting a world athletics championships is an aspiration shared by all citizens of Beijing, which we believe will facilitate the development of athletics in Beijing and China and substantially advance the exchanges and cooperation between China and the rest of the world,” sai Guo Jinlong, the Mayor of Beijing.

Tottenham Hotspur Football Club has appointed Charles Wijeratna, ed London 2012’s director of commercial negotiations, hospital to the role of commercial director.

Wijeratna was responsible for the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games’s (LOCOG) commercial negotiations and was the force behind the sponsorship programme and merchandising deals for the 2012 Games.

He was part of the London 2012 bid company from its inception in 2003, arthritis where he helped steer the bid as its commercial and legal director, managing all the commercial and legal aspects of the bid from set-up through the transition to LOCOG.

Wijeratna previously worked in sports television for Sky TV, as a lawyer with Clifford Chance and as an investment banker with Kleinwort Benson.

He joins Spurs as the club looks to create further commercial potential with its new stadium. The club is hoping that a new business strategy working more closely than ever with brand sponsors can help it climb both the sporting and finance tables.

The English Premier League is this season’s leader in shirt sponsorship revenue amongst the top six European leagues. The EPL’s €128 million revenue leapfrogged the German Bundesliga with a €45 million increase.

According to the 12th edition of the European Jersey Report by global sports marketing consultancy SPORT+MARKT, pharmacy order the combined value of shirt deals across the top six leagues in the continent was up by 18 per cent on last season, reaching an all-time high of €470.7 million.

“Fifteen clubs have improved their revenue from improved jersey sponsorship deals, and three of the five clubs with the most lucrative deals in Europe come from the Premier League,” said SPORT+MARKT UK director Gareth Moore.

English clubs Manchester United and Liverpool boast the highest deals – their new agreements with AON and Standard Chartered respectively are each worth €23.6 million.

Germany and France, second and fourth placed with €118.5 million and €58.8 million respectively, showed impressive increases. France benefited from the liberalisation of its betting market to overtake Spain (€57.5 million), and Germany could be the next market to be boosted by changes in the gambling legislation.

Revenue stalled in Netherlands, which is placed sixth with €42 million, while the Italian Serie A was the only league to post a drop, with shirt sponsorship revenue now standing at €65.9 million. Two of Serie A’s two major clubs – Lazio and Fiorentina – are currently sponsorless however the league remained in the third position.

Online sports betting business Betfair has priced its share flotation on the London stock market, in move which values the total company at £1.4bn ($2.2bn).

The sale of 15.2% of the company took place at a price of £13 per share.

The 16.2 million shares in the gambling firm were sold towards the top of the £11-£14 planned range.

Betfair was founded 10 years ago, and says it is the world’s largest business of its kind.

The shares rose to £15.60 in early conditional trading, up 20% from the initial public offering price.

The existing shareholders have the option to allot an additional 10.8% of the company to meet surplus demand from the offering.

Betfair has three million customers and pioneered person-to-person betting, where punters bet against each other rather than the bookmaker on a range of sports.

The company was founded by Andrew Black, a former professional gambler, and Edward Wray, a former JP Morgan trader.

The site also offers poker and other traditional casino betting forums.

Northern Racing has agreed a ground-breaking 40-year agreement on pitch positions with on-course bookmakers in a first for the sport.

The agreement is the product of discussions since the Gambling Act was introduced in 2007. The commercial deal on positions in betting rings in September 2012, bronchi and last until 2052, ed with an option of a further 10-year extension.

The continuation of auctioning and private sales of positions has also been incorporated into the deal.

The Federation of Racecourse Bookmakers (FRB) now intends to recommend the agreement to its colleagues.

Group managing director of Northern Racing, price Tony Kelly, said: “We are delighted to be the first major racecourse Group to have reached a commercial agreement with the FRB in what is a first for the racing industry.

“A long-term arrangement recognises the role that on-course bookmakers play at our venues.  It provides certainty for the bookmakers, and demonstrates what can be achieved when representatives of the horse racing and betting industries work together for their respective mutual benefit.”

Barry Johnson of the FRB added: “This agreement is the result of many months of hard work and we hope that our members will find it acceptable.  We are eager for it to stimulate deals at other RCA courses, since the future for on-course bookmakers is still uncertain for the majority.

“We thank Northern Racing for the good spirit in which the talks took place, and hope for more of the same elsewhere because there remains much to do before the 2012 deadline.”

Ticketing provider PrimeSport has expanded its partnership with the Sugar Bowl as the Official Ticket Exchange and VIP Hospitality Provider of the Allstate Sugar Bowl.

PrimeSport is offering fans an opportunity to be a VIP at the Sugar Bowl Game with official premium tickets and VIP pregame hospitality packages.

The College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Allstate Sugar Bowl will be held on January 1, treatment 2015 at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, capsule LA. This matchup will feature two of the top four teams selected for the College Football Playoff.

“We have a longstanding partnership with PrimeSport, which continues to facilitate outstanding experiences for college football fans,” said Jeff Hundley, COO of the Sugar Bowl. “Our goal is to deliver the absolute best experience possible for our fans and the unmatched hospitality services provided by PrimeSport help us do just that.”

As part of the partnership, PrimeSport will continue to offer Official Pregame VIP Hospitality packages for the dedicated fan looking for a VIP Experience at the event. The VIP hospitality is located inside the Mercedes-Benz Superdome and will feature regional cuisine, open bar, entertainment and more.

PrimeSport will also manage the Official 2015 Sugar Bowl Ticket Exchange, providing a secure and approved marketplace for fans to buy and sell tickets in a convenient and guaranteed environment. Ticket holders who are unable to attend the game have a place to safely sell their tickets. Buyers can be assured that the tickets are authentic and guaranteed, even if the game is sold out.

“We are excited about our continued partnership with the Sugar Bowl as they transition into the new landscape of college football,” said Sam Soni, CEO of PrimeSport. “Our priority is always to help deliver the best possible experience to college football fans and we are looking forward to delivering the PrimeSport VIP Experience to fans attending the first ever College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Allstate Sugar Bowl.”

FIFA have today confirmed match-fixing sanctions imposed by the Austrian Football Association (ÖFB) and the IR Iran Football Federation (IRIFF).

The ÖFB has sanctioned two Austrian players for violating the integrity regulations of the ÖFB by unlawfully trying to influence the results of a number of matches of the Austrian championship. Dominique Taboga was sanctioned with a lifetime ban from all football-related activities, help while Thomas Zündel was banned from all football-related activities for a period of 12 months.

In Iran, symptoms the Disciplinary Committee of the IRIFF has sanctioned inter alia an Iranian official (coach), Mohammad Reza Molaei, and an Iranian match official (referee), Mohsen Ghahremani, with bans of six and eight months respectively after being charged with “interference in the corruption” and “unsporting behaviour and illegal relations” respectively. The two cases were related to a match of the Iran Pro League.

The chairman of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee has decided to extend the sanctions to have worldwide effect.