David Grevemberg, try the CEO of the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, has expressed his desire to ensure that the Games creates a strong sporting legacy for the city and the country.

Speaking to iSportconnect, he said: “We’re fully committed to working closely with our Games partners; Scottish Government, Glasgow City Council and Commonwealth Games Scotland to ensire there is lasting legacy that will stand the test of time.

“Glasgow 2014 can act as an inspiration for people of all ages to be more active and we’re committed to helping encourage wider participation in sport and physical activity whatever way we can.”

The London 2012 Olympics was often credited for its plans to achieve a strong sporting legacy in Britain, and debates over what to do with the facilities persist. It would appear Glasgow is attempting the same thing in order to get the most out of their investment.

Explaining how Glasgow can create this legacy, Grevemberg added: “The impressive Commonwealth Arena and Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome, which will host world-class sporting competition during Glasgow 2014, has already opened its doors to the public and will host World Championship events before the Games in 2014.”

Club Website Limited have announced that Worldlink Sport has signed Heads of Agreement to become Club Website’s Official Betting and Gaming Partner.

The deal will begin on August 1, prostate | 2012 and will see Worldlink Sport become the ‘Official Betting and Gaming partner’ of Club Website, which provides websites for some 39,000 teams across the UK.

Worldlink Sport will provide dedicated desktop and mobile applications together with its licensed betting brokerage partner, Bet Butler, who will enable users of Club Website to access the best available odds across more than 60 bookmakers. Under the Heads of Agreement Worldlink Sport is required to make certain upfront payments to Club Website.

Speaking about the new partnership, Director of Club Website, Richard Stenson said: “I am absolutely delighted to welcome Worldlink Sport as one of our key partners.

“They have impressed us not only with their product but with their commitment to generating revenue for grassroots football and we are looking forward to building a successful relationship with them.

“It further demonstrates the appeal of our business model and rapidly growing user base to blue chip companies.”

Neil Riches, of Worldlink Sport added: “I am thrilled to be announcing this ground-breaking partnership with Club Website.

“We are looking forward to providing users of Club Website not only an enhanced betting experience, but a percentage of revenues will ultimately go back to grassroots football which is a fundamental part of our business model and offering to sports teams and fans.”

Worldlink Sport is the sport and gaming company that is owned 51% by property and football entrepreneur Andrew Ellis, and 49% by Worldlink, which is one of the UK’s leading real-time mobile applications companies with patented technology that allows information held on the mobile device to be updated automatically without the need for a manual refresh.

Information is delivered via a mobile telecommunications network in real time, whilst intelligently minimising the bandwidth required to transmit the data. The technology is patent protected in the US and UK and is patent pending in Europe. Worldlink has already licensed its patents to leading institutions in the financial and technology sectors and is furthering this process in the UK, US and Europe.

London 2012 Olympics is expecting heavy security after it was revealed that Military snipers and possibly missiles would be used in defence of the spectacular event.

Snipers are to be deployed in helicopters during the Olympics and if required will shoot pilots of low-flying aircraft that might be involved in terrorist attacks, it emerged on Monday.

A team of seven snipers is being given “comprehensive on-the-ground and in-the-air training” as part of the all encompassing security operation being undertaken by the police and the army.

General Sir Nick Parker, who is in charge of co-ordinating the armed forces during the 2012 Games, described the role of the snipers as he revealed the six sites where anti-aircraft missiles may be based as part of the security operation.

The four that are in open spaces – at Blackheath, Lea Valley reservoir, Shooters Hill and Epping Forest – will be home to a battery of Rapier surface-to-air missiles, which are the UK’s primary air defence weapon.

Smaller high-velocity missiles (HVMs) will be put on the top of residential buildings in Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest.

Parker said the missiles would only be fired as a “very last resort”, and any decision to use them would have to come from the “very highest level” – on the authority of the prime minister.

At a briefing at Scotland Yard with assistant commissioner Chris Allison, Parker said it was right to plan for worst-case scenarios, and identified two “broad airborne threats” the military could help with.

“The focus is on the air security of the Olympic Park. The two threats are a large 9/11 type of threat which is integrated into existing security plans. Then there is the smaller, what we would describe as the ‘low and slow’, that is particularly what we need to practice over London.”

Parker said RAF Typhoon fighters and the anti-aircraft missile systems would help to deter the larger threats, and the snipers would be used for the smaller ones. The marksmen will be used in rotation from four Lynx helicopters based on HMS Ocean, which will be in the river Thames at Greenwich, and three Puma helicopters based at a territorial army headquarters in Ilford.

“We put snipers into the helicopters … they won’t all be flying at the same time. It is a standby capability and you operate one sniper in each aircraft. This is part of our layered response. The very final thing would be to shoot the pilot and we are conducting some comprehensive training on the ground and in the air so these snipers can do their job.”

That training will come into focus on Wednesday, when the police and armed forces begin an eight-day exercise in London and Weymouth. This will include Typhoons and helicopters flying low over the capital so the military can “test their ability to the limit”, said Parker. The final decision about if and where to deploy the anti-aircraft missiles will be taken following the exercise.

Allison would not say how many British police would be armed during the Games, but said the “vast majority” would not be carrying weapons. He also insisted that no diplomatic or security officials from other countries, including the US, would be carrying firearms during the event.

“The planning assumption is that there will be no other armed officers from across the world,” he said. “The Games will be policed by the British police … if there are any firearms required, it will be the British police who will be using their firearms.”

In all, 51 different police forces are now sending officers to support Olympic security; 12,500 police will be involved in the Games, and 13,500 members or the armed forces. Parker said he hoped most people regarded the military as a “very benign presence”.

British politicians have denounced a union leader’s threat of strikes to disrupt the Olympics as “completely unacceptable and unpatriotic”.

Len McCluskey, general secretary of Unite, told The Guardian that unions could stage industrial action as part of their campaign against Government cuts.

He called for the public to engage in civil disobedience to defend public services during the fortnight of sport this summer.

Mr McCluskey said no precise plans had been drawn up for action during the London Games, but added that they “absolutely” could include strikes.

“The attacks that are being launched on public sector workers at the moment are so deep and ideological that the idea the world should arrive in London and have these wonderful Olympic Games as though everything is nice and rosy in the garden is unthinkable. Our very way of life is being attacked,” he said.

“I believe the unions, and the general community, have got every right to be out protesting. If the Olympics provide us with an opportunity, then that’s exactly one that we should be looking at.”

Responding to his comments, Prime Minister David Cameron’s official spokesman said: “The Olympics are a great opportunity for this country to show everything that is great about the United Kingdom and advertise ourselves to the world.

“It is completely unacceptable and unpatriotic what he is proposing. Most people in this country, including members of that union, think the Olympics is a great occasion for the country and wouldn’t want to see anything happen that would disrupt it in any way.”

Mr McCluskey’s comments were also condemned by Labour leader Ed Miliband, whose party is largely funded by union donations.

“Any threat to the Olympics is totally unacceptable and wrong,” said Mr Miliband. “This is a celebration for the whole country and must not be disrupted.”

Mr McCluskey said no precise plans had been drawn up for action during the London Games, but added that they “absolutely” could include strikes.

“The attacks that are being launched on public sector workers at the moment are so deep and ideological that the idea the world should arrive in London and have these wonderful Olympic Games as though everything is nice and rosy in the garden is unthinkable. Our very way of life is being attacked,” he said.

“I believe the unions, and the general community, have got every right to be out protesting. If the Olympics provide us with an opportunity, then that’s exactly one that we should be looking at.”

Mr McCluskey said his union had not yet discussed “the specifics” of how workers could target the Olympics, but said they were looking at what “leverage points” the Games offer – such as bus services.

He added: “Now nobody has made any decisions yet and, of course, it would be nice if we were able not to disrupt such a prestigious event as the Olympics.

“But by the same token, people have to understand that we are fighting for our heritage here.

“Our parents and our grandparents, having defeated fascism in Europe, came back determined to build a land fit for heroes. They gave us the welfare state, the National Health Service, universal education.

“All of that is being attacked. I, for one, am not prepared to stand by and have my children or grandchildren say to me, ’What did you do when this was being taken away from us?’

“When you say what can we do, and the likes of the Olympics, I’m calling upon the general public to engage in civil disobedience.”

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg urged Mr Miliband to “rein in” the union boss.

“I just think people will be gobsmacked, appalled, that someone thinks that at a time when we are finally hosting one of the greatest events in the world, he is calling for civil disobedience,” Mr Clegg told ITV Daybreak.

“I know he is the sort of paymaster of the Labour party but I hope Ed Miliband will rein him in.”

Conservative Party co-chairman Baroness Warsi said she too was “shocked” by Mr McCluskey’s comments and called on Mr Miliband to act.

“This is an appalling display of naked self-interest by Labour’s biggest financial backer,” she said.

“The London Olympics will be a great occasion for this country. It is disgraceful for a trade union boss to be calling for mass disruption when the eyes of the world will be on Britain.”

Harriet Harman, Labour’s deputy leader spoke to Mr McCluskey this morning to tell him his threat was “absolutely wrong”.

Ms Harman said: “Len McCluskey is absolutely wrong to even float the notion that there should be any trade union disruptions or anything that would disrupt the Olympics.

“The Olympics are going to be a fantastically important thing for London and the whole country. It is inconceivable that trade union members would want to disrupt something that they’ve been very much a part of.

“I have spoken to Len McCluskey this morning and said that both Ed Miliband and I think he is wrong and we think that he shouldn’t even have been floating the prospect.

“We all need to be rallying behind the Olympics. It is going to be an important opportunity for Britain and is going to affect our jobs, our economic growth in the future and the prosperity of this country.”

Betsafe have signed a three-year deal to become a major sponsor of the Danish soccer league, medic just months ahead of the country’s market opening up.

The company will become the third main sponsor of the Danish Superliga as well as the title partner of the second tier of Danish soccer, which will be renamed the Betsafe Liga.

The contract will be activated once Betsafe has received its licence under the forthcoming Danish legislation being introduced. The Danish government reassured the industry in January that licensed operators would be active in the market by the autumn.

Richardt Funch, Betsafe’s country manager for Denmark, told EGaming Review that the deal would give the company “a unique strategic platform” for the introduction of the Danish legislation.

He added: “This deal will send a clear signal to the industry that Betsafe has very high ambitions and will become a significant operator in the future Danish betting market.”

The Spanish broadcast rights to carry UEFA Champions League action in the nation have been renewed by TVE and TV3 for the period of 2012-15.

State broadcaster TVE and TV3, a regional public network in Catalunya, tabled a joint bid for the free-to-air rights in Spain after Digital+ acquired the pay-TV Champions League package for the same three seasons.

The free-to-air rights comprise the 16 first-choice live matches on Tuesdays as well as the UEFA magazine programme and highlights on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. TVE’s website, www.rtve.es, and TV3’s www.tv3.cat and www.esport3.cat online platforms will also be able to air action.

UEFA Events marketing director Guy-Laurent Epstein stated: “In the current rights cycle, both TVE and TV3 have shown commitment to elevate the UEFA Champions League’s position even further as forerunner in club football worldwide.

“We are pleased to continue our relationship with both broadcasters for the UEFA Champions League. The high quality of their programming will ensure that Spanish fans will continue to enjoy watching the top European teams competing on the highest footballing stage,” he added.

According to the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics organising committee (VANOC), the event broke even in relation to the final budget.

VANOC spent US$1.86 billion to stage the Games which was a significant increase from the original budget of $1.61 billion over the three years in the run up to the Games.

During the first quarter of 2010, hotel revenues were increased by $128 million than normal in Vancouver and Whistler at that time of year with revenue from restaurants and bars up around the same amount for the period.

John Furlong, chief executive of VANOC stated: “The true measure of the 2010 Winter Games is not strictly financial, but a positive financial outcome is something we are very proud of in the story of the Games’ success. It is a key result we committed to and, through a true team effort, we have achieved it under some very challenging circumstances.”

91% of revenues came from corporate sources, but taxpayers also helped to support the Games according to VANOC, with both the provincial and federal governments providing financial assistance in the months leading up to the Olympics. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) also pledged to cover any budget deficit.

American National Football League (NFL) side, the St Louis Rams has a new official airline after Delta Air Lines signed a two-year deal to replace American Airline.

The deal between the previous partner, American Airlines has not been renewed after 20 routes between Lambert – St Louis International Airport were cut from their operations.

Delta will now be responsible for transporting the Rams players and staff to all away games in the NFL calendar. In return the airline will receive signage during the Rams home games as well as in the matchday programme and on the teams official website.

Bob Reif, the Rams’ executive vice president of sales and marketing stated, “We appreciate Delta’s commitment and growing presence in the St Louis market and look forward to a long partnership”.

Senior vice president and chief financial officer at Delta, Hank Halter added: “This partnership demonstrates Delta’s ongoing commitment to St Louis as we continue to invest in the market with new service and enhanced facilities for our customers.”

LG Electronics along with the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI), pills the official sanctioning body of professional golf in India concluded the high profile ‘LG Race to Ireland’ a unique Pro-Am format golf tournament. The tournament, which was held from November 3 – 7 at the Jaypee Greens Golf Resort, Greater Noida, saw high quality strategic golf by professional golfers along with industry leaders and corporate honchos. The winning team received a lifetime opportunity of competing at the Pro-Am of the prestigious Irish Open with, all expenses paid.

The announcement of LG race to Ireland made last week through a press conference saw the presence of H.E. Mr. Kenneth Thompson, the Ambassador of Ireland which was followed by a gala dinner, announcing the teams and celebrating the opening of the game. The gala dinner attended by prominent socialites such as Kapil Dev and Suhel Seth, had an enthralling performance by celebrated entertainer Ash Chandler and an by renowned Jazz artist Sonam Kalra. The tournament concluded on the morning of 7th Nov, 2010 with the announcement of the winners.

Mr. L K Gupta, Chief Marketing Officer, LG India, said, “LG’s foray into the elegant world of Golf is to reinforce its premium positioning and brand building in the Indian market. The company will focus to build this event over the years to provide a strong platform to bring together the best talent from professional golf and the corporate boardrooms.”

Key highlights of the game:

– The game saw India open winner C Muniyappa and PGTI regulars Mahesh Kumar and senior professional Gaurav Ghei participate in the tournament.
The PGTI 1 team comprising of professionals Amandeep Johl and Arjun Singh and amateurs Mr. Kapil Dev, Ms. Nooraine Fazal and Mr. K K Bajoria won the LG Race to Ireland Pro-Am at the Jaypee Greens golf course on Sunday.

Mr Padamjit Sandhu, Director, PGTI said, This event was a success, and it helped us to bring the best professional and amateur golfers on the same platform. I am sure the winning CXO have learnt to strengthen their team work and strategise. We are confident that the LG-PGTI partnership will help create high value and strong growth platforms for the sport of golf in India.”