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.”

The 2014 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship, which took place from 9 to 25 May in Minsk, Belarus, has established new records in global television exposure, it has been revealed today.

The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) and its exclusive marketing partner for the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship, Infront Sports & Media, have announced a total of over 6,100 broadcast hours (+35% as compared to the 2013 edition) as the event was transmitted on TV and digital platforms in over 150 countries and territories (+29%). These are the highest results ever achieved.

The cumulative audience totals at more than 945 million, which is the second best result in history. 

The official mobile application of the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship powered by Škoda was downloaded more than 314,000 times – outnumbering the previous year’s results by 9 per cent.

René Fasel, President of the IIHF, commented: “The media reach for the 2014 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship is truly remarkable – especially because it has been not a one-off, but a constant and significant growth over the last 15 years. The media performance of the flagship event in world ice hockey puts the success of our long-term partnership with Infront in numbers. Also, the fact that the programming was enthusiastically received both in traditional as well as in emerging ice hockey markets confirms the future growth vision we have for the sport.”

Bruno Marty, Executive Director Winter Sports, added: “For the third time in a row, we have significantly surpassed the 900 million mark in cumulative audience for the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship. This underlines the strength of the tournament, even in a year where other major events such as the Olympic Winter Games and the FIFA World Cup have competed for viewer attention. Together with the plus of 35 per cent in exposure, this is also of great benefit for the loyal sponsors that have accompanied and supported the growth of the tournament during many years.”