English Premier League soccer club Sunderland has claimed that the last year, to July 2010, was one of “growth and development” despite announcing an annual loss of US$41.12m, a figure $3.22m deeper than the year previous.

Sunderland’s chief executive Steve Walton admitted that the club was “facing challenging economic times, both nationally and regionally”.

However, having only run up to the summer of 2010, the latest figures do no incorporate two major dealings in the club’s history. Firstly, the record signing of Ghanaian international striker Asamoah Gyan and secondly the club’s record sale in star man Darren Bent, whose transfer to rivals Aston Villa is reported to be a potential sum of $38.7m

Turnover rose to $105.46m but operating expenses – which include players’ wages and utilities charges – also went up, to $113.5m.

During the period Sunderland, known as the Black Cats, spent $42.25m on transfers, signing 10 players and taking three more on loan.

Mr Walton said: “There has been significant investment made to improve our playing squad and we are now starting to see the benefits of that investment.”

He said the support of owner Ellis Short put the club in a secure position, converting a further $30.6m of loans into shares in the club.

UK Sport, health the nation’s high performance sports agency, has today released details of their most exciting calendar of international sporting events to date for this crucial year of final preparations for British sports and athletes ahead of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

UK Sport’s World Class Events Programme, which is currently backed by £3.5 million per year of National Lottery funding, expanded in 2007 following London’s successful bid to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games, with a doubling of investment to help ensure the UK’s sports and athletes would be best prepared come 2012.

Over 100 major international events will have been brought to the UK as part of this 2007-2012 programme to help British athletes prepare for competing at a home Games, and build expertise so that the UK can continue to host the biggest events in world sport long after the London Games is over.

The 2011 calendar, which is expected to include up to 27 events in at least 22 different sports, staged in various towns and cities across the UK, is the penultimate year of a six year strategic programme which will have seen 85% of Britain’s Olympic and Paralympic sports host a major international event on home soil by the time the Games begin.

UK Sport has worked in partnership with the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) to ensure that a number of the major international events on this programme will be staged in Olympic venues, providing LOCOG with the opportunity to test certain aspects of those events ahead of London 2012.

In 2011, UK Sport will be supporting five major international events in Olympic and Paralympic host venues. These will be the World Badminton Championships (Wembley), World Junior Rowing Championships (Eton Dorney), World Triathlon Championships Series (Hyde Park), BMX Supercross World Cup (Olympic Park) and the Modern Pentathlon World Cup Final (Greenwich Park).

UK Sport is hoping to confirm its support for a further two major events taking place in Olympic venues in 2012: the Track Cycling World Cup (Olympic Park) and the Diving World Cup (Olympic Park).

Liz Nicholl, Chief Executive of UK Sport, said: “We are delivering the most comprehensive programme of major sporting events ever staged by an Olympic and Paralympic host nation, and setting a new international benchmark for future hosts.

“The fantastic calendar of events to be staged here in the UK in 2011 offers the British public a great opportunity to help give our athletes, volunteers and officials the best possible final preparation for their home Games in 2012.”

Aside from the performance benefits for British athletes and the boost to the UK’s capacity to stage major sporting events, it is estimated that for every £1 of National Lottery funding invested into these events, an average of £4.90 of additional direct economic impact is generated for the host city and region. The full events programme from 2007-2012 is therefore estimated to have generated in the region of £105 million of direct economic benefit to host cities and regions across the UK.

Hugh Robertson, Minister for Sport, added:  “One of the Government’s key policy objectives has been to capture a series of key international sports events in both the run up to London 2012 and thereafter. This full and exciting programme will allow people across Britain to see the stars of London 2012 for themselves and will inspire many others to take up sport.”

Sir Craig Reedie, IOC Executive Board Member, said: “UK Sport’s World Class Events Programme has provided outstanding event hosting experience for Britain’s national governing bodies in preparation for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and will help in attracting, in legacy, more world class events to the country for years to come.
“I look forward to seeing the post-2012 programme take shape in the coming months and years.”

Sarah Springman, President of British Triathlon and Vice President of the ITU, said: “Working with UK Sport, Upsolut Sports UK and other domestic partners has been integral to the establishment of the London Hyde Park event in the Dextro Energy Triathlon ITU World Championship Series.  We look forward to returning to Hyde Park for the third consecutive year on 6/7 August 2011.

“British Triathlon has benefited from the opportunity to build a network of home grown volunteers and national technical officials to work alongside international officials as we prepare to make the Triathlon the most memorable event in London next year. Delivery of this event has also greatly improved our capacity to stage world class events in future.”

Seb Coe, Chair of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG), said: “UK Sport will be bringing some thrilling sporting action here in the run-up to 2012. Spectators will be able to experience some of our Olympic venues in an exciting atmosphere prior to the Games and we look forward to working with UK Sport on this programme.  Some of these events will also give us an opportunity to test our operational plans for 2012.  Olympic tickets go on sale in March and we urge people to sign up and register their interest on www.tickets.london2012.com.”

UK Sport has completed detailed planning for the UK’s programme of major international sporting events from 2013-2018. This programme will receive a budget of £5 million per year and will seek to use the catalysts of London 2012 and Glasgow 2014 to establish the UK as the world’s leading host of major international sporting events. A programme of strategic hosting targets is being finalized with national governing bodies and further details will be released later this year.

Outgoing FIFA vice-president Chung Mong-joon has hinted that his Asian counterpart, Qatari national, Mohammad Bin Hammam will challenge FIFA president Sepp Blatter when he stands for re-election later this year.

As of yet, the Frenchman’s revelation that he will apply for re-election for the post for a record fourth term, has gone unopposed ahead of April 1 deadline for nominations.

However, Chung wrote on his Twitter account yesterday, February 9: “I had lunch with Bin Hammam, the AFC president today. It seems he will challenge the FIFA presidential election in June.”

Chung, who will be replaced by Prince Ali Bin Hussein of Jordan, added: “A FIFA president from Asia is a good thing. We all support him.”

Chung’s claims come after numerous reports suggesting that Bin Hammam would contest Blatter’s potential re-election after the Asian Football Confederation president criticised the governing body’s operations over the recent months.

Last month, Blatter, making reference to Bin Hammam’s support of Chung’s failed FIFA vice presidential re-election, told journalists to “make their own conclusions” of how much support the Qatari had if he couldn’t command his own confederation.

Bin Hammam later made a thinly-veiled reference to Blatter’s attempt to extend his presidency to 17 years, saying that FIFA needed presidential term limits to introduce “new people, new ideas, new thoughts” to push ”the organisation ahead”.

Michael Gove, abortion Education Secretary, ailment was forced to withdraw his proposal to eliminate the £162m (US$250m) UK school sports funding put in place by the previous government.

Although the u-turn does not mean that the entire funding will stay in place, case Gove promised that £47m ($72.8m) of the total would be salvaged from the partnership.

Gove also stated that a further £65m ($100m) would be released in the academic years which straddle the 2012 Olympics to ensure that there will be at least one dedicated PE teacher in place at every school.

The move was an embarrassing climbdown for the education secretary whose plans forced an intervention by David Cameron, who demanded a rethink after the coalition Government was hit by a public backlash.

A new joint venture has been established in an attempt to boost the profile of cricket in the U.S. Podar Holdings International Pte Limited of Singapore and Top Bloom Corporation Limited, have joined with Australian sports marketing firm Insite to become foundation partners of the United States of America Cricket Association (USACA) and the Cricket body of New Zealand (NZC).

The companies have joined forces to launch a new venture called Cricket Holdings America (CHA) LLC. The CHA will hold a majority of the commercial rights to cricket in the US.

Commenting on the new venture, USACA President Gladstone Dainty said: “This agreement provides USACA with the ability to grow the game from grassroots to the elite level. It has opened doors for private investment into cricket in America, one of the more exciting new market opportunities for the ICC. Importantly, it will provide a sustainable revenue stream for the development of the game and secondly, we shall be supported by the knowledge and expertise that comes from a full member country like New Zealand.”

He added: “It is also worth noting that the US broadcast market has huge potential. It has historically been the second highest rights payer behind India. By growing cricket in our country we are not only benefitting Cricket Holdings America LLC but all ICC Member nations.”

The ICC has hopes that the new initiative will provide cricket the best opportunity to thrive in the United States.

ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat advised: “The ICC has long considered the United States as a strategically key market for the growth of the game. We are extremely supportive of the new partnership and their efforts to grow cricket within the United States. We wish them all the best.”

BMW have decided to distance themselves further from motor sport after announcing that they would be pulling their squad from the World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) ahead of next season. The decision come just a year after the car manufacturing giants cut their ties with the Formula One

Long-serving director of BMW Motorsport, medic Mario Theissen is now departing the company and will be replaced by Jens Marquardt. It appears that after a lack of recent successes in the motorsport industry, asthma BMW are ready to leave their long lasting tradition in the field behind.

It was announced last year that the Sauber F1 would not be returning this season which is promptly followed by the decision to decrease its efforts in WTCC from three factory based teams to one. The solitary remaining team have now also been withdrawn after a choice was made to compete against Audi and Mercedes-Benz in the national German Touring Car Masters (DTM) series.

The company will continue to its recently revamped 320 TC to independent teams in the WTCC despite their withdrawal. The BMW team have followed suit from SEAT who have also decided to rescind their participation in the series after claiming the title last year. The move has meant that the only works teams in the series next year will be Chevrolet and Volvo representing a significant loss for the WTCC.

Tourism officials are predicting a sharp fall in the number of British cricket fans heading to Australia for this winter’s Ashes series, BBC reports

Numbers are expected to be down by almost half compared to 2006, with fewer than 20,000 supporters now likely to make the long journey from the United Kingdom to watch the battle for the legendary urn.

Cricketing authorities are blaming the runaway Australian dollar and economic uncertainty.

“Unfortunately we’re not expecting as many UK visitors this time,” says Peter Young from Cricket Australia.

“The huge tidal wave of UK visitors including the Barmy Army that we had four years ago is not going to be repeated.

“The twin impact of the financial crisis and the exchange rate has meant that the pound buys so much less than it did four years ago.”

The Ashes will be the biggest sporting event in Australia this year and strong ticket sales have been reported for the first three days at all five test venues, including the much-anticipated blockbuster in Brisbane that starts on 25 November.

So, the grounds will be far from empty but those stay-away England fans will be missed.

The 2006/07 Ashes series and the one-day internationals that followed pumped $320m into the domestic economy, more than both the Formula One Grand Prix and Australian Open Tennis in Melbourne.

On average travelling England fans spent more than $10,000 during their stay, a sizeable chunk doubtless frittered away drowning sorrows during a forgettable tour that saw the tourists thumped 5-0 in the test series.

London’s bid to host the 2015 World Athletics Championships has been abandoned over the uncertain future of the 2012 Olympic Stadium.

The capital could instead be put forward to host the event in 2017.

The Government was unable to commit to a 2015 bid because a number of the tenders for the stadium have plans that would see the running track removed.

The decision means Beijing is the sole remaining bidder and they should be confirmed as hosts later this month.

The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) will announce their final decision on 20 November.

Some bids for the use of the stadium post-2012 Games, including the one from West Ham and Newham Council, include the retention of the track but others, including the one from American sports company AEG and Tottenham Hotspur, have plans that would see it removed.

UK Athletics chairman Ed Warner said: “Obviously we are disappointed not to be pursuing our 2015 bid, especially after securing the support of both the Government and the Mayor of London.

“However, we need to present the IAAF with a bid that is free of any uncertainties.

“That is not something we can commit to until the process regarding the future of the stadium, which we fully support, is concluded.”

IAAF President Lamine Diack added: “We fully understand and respect the reasons for UKA moving their bid from 2015 to 2017. We are delighted that London are still in the race.”

Liverpool have appointed ex-Tottenham director of football Damien Comolli as their director of football strategy.

The 38-year-old Frenchman was sacked by Spurs in October 2008 after three years at the club and later joined French outfit St Etienne as sporting director.

He will begin work with Reds owner John Henry and boss Roy Hodgson immediately.

“I am delighted to be joining Liverpool and look forward to working with John and Roy, health ” said Comolli, who also spent seven seasons as a scout at Arsenal.

“I think we all realise there is a big job ahead, but we all share the vision that John has for rebuilding the club and bringing back the success that the supporters deserve.”

Liverpool finished seventh in the Premier League last season, missing out on a place in the Champions League for the first time since 2003.

College ticketing provider Paciolan has extended its partnership with California State University, Fresno (Fresno State).

Fresno State will continue to leverage Paciolan’s industry-leading ticketing and fundraising solutions, and in conjunction with the renewal the university has upgraded Paciolan’s Access Management system and implemented the company’s Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Ticketing Intelligence platforms. Fresno State has been a Paciolan partner since 1982. Paciolan is a subsidiary of the Philadelphia-based sports and entertainment firm Comcast-Spectacor.

“We truly believe that our partnership with Paciolan is extremely valuable and we are excited to extend our long-term relationship,” said Paul Ladwig, Senior Associate Athletics Director for External Relations at Fresno State. “We believe in Paciolan, and they have always been there to help us achieve our goals. Our relationship with Paciolan gives us the ability to continually make the fan experience better, easier and simpler.”

Fresno State will continue to leverage Paciolan’s eVenue online ticketing solution that enables the university to efficiently sell tickets and process donations in real-time at GoBulldogs.com. Through the online box office, Fresno State offers fans and donors the ability to purchase and renew tickets, donate to the Bulldog Foundation, select tickets via interactive pick your own seat maps and manage accounts online via a user-friendly interface.

“For the first time our fans will be able to show their mobile devices and we’ll be able to scan tickets on their devices, and we can become paperless at our venues and do the things that fans expect in today’s marketplace,” added Ladwig. “With the help of Paciolan’s technology and expertise, we’re once again able to create a better fan experience for the folks at Fresno State.”