A panel for the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has called on FIFA to examine whether Blatter re-elected to a fourth, four-year term last June was just and to re-evaluate why the ISL documents relating to a kickbacks scandal haven’t been published yet.

FIFA should probe “whether the candidates in its recent election for president and particularly the successful candidate exploited their institutional positions to obtain ‘unfair advantages for themselves or for potential voters,’’ the panel said.

Though he was facing criticism for alleged corruption in soccer’s governing body, Blatter ran unopposed in 2011 when rival candidate Mohamed bin Hammam withdrew after being accused of bribing voters. Bin Hammam claims that Blatter helped orchestrate the bribery scandal, and is challenging his life ban by FIFA at the Court of Arbitration for Sport next month.

FIFA responded Wednesday that it already investigated the allegations against Blatter and they were dismissed.

The new report also tried to increase pressure on FIFA to reveal details of a scandal involving its former marketing agency, which collapsed into bankruptcy in 2001.

FIFA should “publish in full any judicial and other documents’’ it has concerning the ISL case, in which senior soccer officials allegedly took millions of dollars in kickbacks from World Cup broadcast deals, the report said.

Blatter promised to publish a court dossier last year as part of a wide-ranging reform program. At least one party has appealed to Switzerland’s supreme court to block publication of the material. FIFA said it “already stated its full support’’ for releasing court papers.

The BBC has reported that two Brazilian officials — Blatter’s predecessor, Joao Havelange, and Ricardo Teixeira, a FIFA executive committee member who leads the 2014 World Cup local organizing committee — pocketed payments.

The Council’s report pointed to Bin Hammam’s case and a 2006 match-fixing scandal known as Calciopoli, which exposed Italian officials who selected referees to favor some clubs, as examples of how power struggles and economic interests “seriously jeopardized’’ ethics in sports.

“Moreover, the sports scandals that come to light are only the tip of the iceberg: experts are fully aware that the hidden part, unknown to the public, is even bigger and of a more worrying dimension,’’ the report said.

The panel consulted FIFA officials before drafting the 20-page report.

Other proposals included limiting sports leaders to eight-year terms in office, requiring their salaries and bonuses to be published, and inviting “former athletes of acknowledged integrity’’ to serve on federation committees.

FIFA said the Council also praised “several positive elements’’ of its work, including its rules restricting international transfers of players under 18 and investment in social programs.

The report will be debated on April 25 when parliamentarians from 47 Council of Europe member states meet in Strasbourg, France.

Discuss the issue here

by Ismail Uddin

The National Basketball Association’s (NBA) Sacramento Kings stadium naming rights agreement is being revisited by the Power Balance wristband company after the deal officially took effect on Tuesday, March 1.

The facility name was formally changed to Power Balance Pavilion from Arco Arena, and the team said that the “Power Balance name is going up in spots around the building.”

But Power Balance officials said that they are “delaying installing a Power Balance sign over the front door pending resolution of the talks” that could send the Kings to Anaheim after just 11 more games in Sacramento.

Distribution agreements have been brokered by MP & Silva between the ACB Spanish basketball league for deals deals in Italy and Singapore for the remainder of the season.

Agreements have been reached with Sportitalia and Starhub, health which have already aired games from the Spanish Copa del Rey basketball tournament.

The ACB has also added English commentary to the international feed in one of the two games broadcast abroad every weekend.

ACB chairman Eduardo Portela stated: “According to our ongoing internationalisation process, we have to see our competition as a global product, so it was the right time to add English commentary to our games.

“This service will improve the experience of our current audience and will increase the opportunity to reach new territories,” he added.

Planning Permission has just been granted for the new training facility for English nPower League One soccer team Southampton Football Club.

The state of the art venue has been designed by AFL Architects and the company released a statement on their webiste today, February 14 to confirm the approval.

The statement from the architectural company read: “The design for the new building represents a contemporary but contextual approach. By using natural timber cladding to the walls and roof of the new building, the contemporary architectural style and massing will sit comfortably within it’s rural setting at the edge of the New Forest.”

Renewed speculation arose today that the Glazer family is reportedly on the brink of selling Manchester United to Qatar Holdings for £1.6bn (US$2.56bn).

UK newspaper, health The Daily Express claimed that a deal was “virtually done” and that the two sides are “only haggling over details”.

If the figure touted is accurate then any sale of the club by the controversial American owners would represent double the money that Malcolm Glazer and his family spent, pharmacy viagra in the six years since they paid £790m ($1.26bn) for the club in the summer of 2005.

United has consistently denied it is interested in selling the club since Qatar Holdings, cheap the business investment branch of the Qatar Royal family, was first seriously linked with a bid just before Christmas. According to sources of the newspaper, the Qataris have agreed to add another $160m on to their initial $2.4bn offer.

United’s director of communications Phil Townsend, who now also acts as Glazer family spokesman, maintained: “There has been no approach to buy Manchester United and no approach would be welcome.”

According to reports from the Daily Telegraph, symptoms the brother of UK Prime Minister David Cameron will represent shamed Pakistani cricketer Mohammed Asif, who faces corruption charges from the International Cricket Council (ICC).

The hearing will commence in Qatar on January 6 where Asif will be joined by compatriots Muhammed Amir and ex-Pakistan captain, Salman Butt. If found guilty, the men could face bans of between five years and life from the game after allegations were made of the trio during a Test match tour of England last year.

London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games have agreed a £37m (US$57.5m) contract to make Aggreko the official power supplier for the event. The company specialises in providing generators for major events with an impressive portfolio.

Aggreko is expected to provide around 220 megawatts of power at the London Olympics after supplying the Beijing 2008 Olympics with 160 megawatts. The Glasgow-based firm also secured its largest ever events contract by value in providing the power at the football World Cup in South Africa.

Aggreko raised profit expectations last Friday as it said work on the soccer tournament boosted first-half revenues by nearly £29m ($45m).

Turnover in the events division soared to £85m ($132.2m) from £48.5m ($75.4m) a year earlier, buy cialis helping drive a 19% rise in interim profits to £127.1m ($197.7m).

As well as the strong performance at the World Cup, doctor Aggreko enjoyed a boost in trade from the Vancouver Winter Olympics, Glastonbury Festival and the US Superbowl.

Cooper Tires is to continue as title sponsor of British Formula 3 until at least the end of 2014.

The American tyre company began its association with British F3 in 2009, when it took over supply from its affiliate brand Avon Tyres, which had previously been sole supplier to the series for 27 years, reports Autosport.

Julian Baldwin, managing director of Cooper Tires Europe, said: “Cooper’s role in British F3 is something that everyone who works at our Melksham base is very proud of – and rightly so.

“F3 is often referred to as the ‘university of motorsport’ for both drivers and engineers, and that requires a top-quality tyre that can be relied on. Over the years, our engineers have worked tirelessly to ensure that our tyres satisfy all the needs of a series that has become the world’s best.”

Lisa Crampton, general manager of British F3 promoter SRO, added: “Cooper Tires has put a huge amount into a powerful marketing and promotional programme, which has led to the success of British F3 today.

“Cooper has offered teams and drivers a high level of service and support for the past two years, and we look forward to seeing that dedication continue in the years to come.”

The Asian Games in Guangzhou would go down in history as “one of the best ever”, Olympic Council of Asia President Sheikh Ahmad Al Fahad Al Sabah said on Saturday.

The 16th Asian Games were unprecedented in both size and scale in the 59-year history of the quadrennial event. More than 10,000 athletes from 45 countries and regions have participated in a record 42 sports ranging from archery to chess.

On the last day of the two-week-long competition, Xinhua quoted Sheikh Ahmad as telling a press conference held at the Main Press Center that the OCA was satisfied with the Chinese organizers’ work.

“The city of Guangzhou has done a very great job for the Asian Olympic Movement and for the Asian Olympic family,” he said.

“It was one of the best ever (edition) in the history of Asian Olympic Movement.”

“Our target is to make the Asian Games better, and this is our job,” said Sheikh Ahmad. “Each Games have different aims, have different situations.”

Wei Jizhong, OCA’s deputy honorary life president from China, echoed these comments.

According to Chinese news agency Xinhua, games have raised a record three billion yuan ($454 million) in sponsorship, the amount is five times the total raised by the Doha Games in 2006 and three and half times more than the sponsorship for the Busan edition in 2002.