English Rugby Union team, medicine Saracens confirms it will be entering into detailed discussions with the London Borough of Barnet about the possibility of transforming Barnet Copthall Stadium into a vibrant, doctor multi-purpose sports venue, health with real benefits for the entire community.

The stadium, currently home to Shaftesbury Barnet Harriers amongst other sports clubs, would become a premier athletics venue and potential training centre for the 2012 Olympic Games, as well as being an outstanding community sports hub and a Premiership rugby ground.

The emerging proposals would comprehensively refurbish the existing main building to the west of the site and create a new permanent stand to the east which would be used by spectators of athletics meetings and rugby matches. Demountable stands would be in place during the winter season to facilitate up to 16 Saracens fixtures.

Saracens is urgently seeking a home with the potential to ensure the club is sustainable in the long term; Barnet Copthall would provide this opportunity and bring Premiership rugby back into north London, heartland of the club’s support since 1876.

Chairman Nigel Wray said: “There is a unique opportunity to create a fabulous stadium. Shaftesbury Barnet Harriers would thrive, Saracens would use the artificial turf pitch around 16 times per year, and the rest of the time – up to 350 days per year – the field could be used by schools, local clubs and the wider community.

“Barnet Copthall would also become a new hub for the award-winning Saracens Foundation, which has been working with more than 500,000 young people in London over the past decade, improving lives by running various courses that link education and sport.

“It goes without saying we will consult widely and extensively with the local community and stakeholders to establish a proper dialogue and ensure we create an asset that meets all the requirements of local residents and sports clubs.

“In the process, we will create a home for Saracens, an ambitious club playing entertaining rugby in a superb stadium, an institution which will make the people of Barnet and all North London can feel proud for many years to come.”

Geoff Morphitis, Treasurer of Shaftesbury Barnet Harriers said: “This is a tremendous opportunity in these difficult financial times to refurbish a stand that is nearly 50 years old and to bring in new facilities.

“This would ensure the venue can continue to host top class athletics meetings and serve as a valuable sports facility for the local community. We look forward to working with Saracens to ensure the delivery of an outstanding sporting venue and to expand our work in the local community.”

Yamaha World Superbike team boss Massimo Meregalli will become director of their MotoGP team next season.

This season the team had two managers because of the garage being divided between former champion Valentino Rossi and new champion Jorge Lorenzo.

Seven-time champion Rossi will leave to join Ducati at the end of the season, taking with him the man who ran his part of the garage, Davide Brivio.

The final race of the season takes place in Valencia this Sunday.

Meregalli will start his new job after Sunday’s race, with the first testing session for 2011 taking place in Valencia on Tuesday.

He will work with team manager Wilco Zeelenberg.

Indian Cricket authority, BCCI has rejected Sunil Gavaskar’s charge that Board has not paid a single penny to the legendary cricketer for his services. BCCI revealed that former Indian skipper had demanded Rs 20 million for his services to IPL as a Governing Council member.

“He has been sending emails regarding his payment but there was no contract,” said BCCI secretary N Srinivasan to Times Now.

However, BCCI also clarified that Gavaskar was to be paid only Rs 1 million for the past three years as per the agreement.

Meanwhile, BCCI president Shashank Manohar told reporters that Sunil Gavaskar had not sought any meeting with BCCI.

“I am ready to meet anyone, but he (Sunil Gavaskar) has not sought any meeting with me,” Shashank Manohar said.

Earlier, Omitted from the IPL Governing Council, Sunil Gavaskar has said that BCCI, the promoters of the Twenty20 League, has not paid him a single penny for his services.

In a major revamp, the BCCI left out the former Indian captain from the Twenty20 League’s Governing Council at its Annual General Meeting in September.

The Cricket Board did not give any reason for Gavaskar’s ouster, but there were reports that it could be a result of a payment dispute.

But the legendary batsman mantained that he had not been paid for the last three years which forced him to sent a “gentle reminder about the non-payment” to BCCI.

“I am yet to be paid by the BCCI for my role on the IPL Governing Council. I have not been paid at all by the BCCI, since I took on the offer,” Gavaskar told a news channel.

“I have just been told that Mr Sharad Pawar (ICC President) will organise a meeting between Shashank Manohar (BCCI chief) and me in his presence to sort out the matter and that for me is good enough,” he said.

The former India captain, however, refused to divulge what the pay packet would be, saying, “Never ask a woman her age and never ask a man what he gets.”

Gavaskar also denied that he had any links with the beleaguered Kochi IPL team and said he had still not made up his mind whether to accept the franchise’s offer to head it’s cricket operations.

London will have to wait to find out if the NFL will return again next season.

The San Francisco 49ers came from behind to beat the Denver Broncos 24-16 on Sunday night in the fourth regular-season game to be played at Wembley. However, it is unclear if the NFL will be able to return to London next year.

“There’s a lot of work to be done in terms of learning from what happened here and getting feedback from players, officials and coaches on how this works and we’ll continue to do that,” NFL UK managing director Alistair Kirkwood said. “But we won’t be able to move forward on the International Series until the collective bargaining agreement is reached.”

IMG Worldwide, the global sports and entertainment company, has signed Australian swimmer and five-time Olympic gold medallist Ian Thorpe as a global client.

Thorpe will be represented outside of Australia, New Zealand and Japan by IMG who will work closely with his existing team, Grand Slam International.

IMG will also help develop the Thorpedo brand as well as Thorpe’s charitable foundation, Fountain for Youth.

Since taking a break from swimming, Thorpe has dedicated his time to Fountain for Youth. The organisation aims to embrace humanity by nurturing children, specifically raising funds for disadvantaged children and research into childhood illnesses, focusing on education as a catalyst for improved health.

Thorpe has won a total of nine Olympic medals, including five gold medals. He was also the first person to win six gold medals at one World Championship.

The first ‘legal’ online poker tournament in France took place yesterday, just hours after licensed companies were given the green light by regulator ARJEL to legally offer online poker to French customers.

The tournament was hosted by Bwin, who was awarded a licence last month, but French authorities had forced poker operators to wait until now after sports betting was first allowed in early June.

ARJEL has now issued a total of eight online poker licences to local French operators PMU, BetClic, Everest Ppker, Chili Poker, Partouche, Sajoo, Eurosportbet and Winamax.

As well as Bwin, two other international operators, Pokerstars and Partygaming, have been granted licences.

Co-chief executive of Bwin, Norbet Teufelberger, said: “As with sports betting, we were able to launch poker at the earliest possible opportunity because we were well prepared. We have thus achieved our goal of becoming the very first mover in the newly regulated French market.”

Infront Sports & Media and the 24 ORE Group have been appointed as Commercial Advisors of FIGC – the Italian National Football Federation (Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio).

The agreement will be formally signed in the forthcoming weeks and will run until the end of 2018.

The partnership focuses on enhancing the positioning and brand value of Italian football on an international level, buy fully aligned with the characteristics and heritage of the sport in the country.

Infront and the 24 ORE Group will also market sponsorship opportunities for the federation, the Men’s national team, the Women’s national team and the youth national teams. Over the coming month, an enhanced sponsorship model will be conceptualised, offering attractive opportunities for major Italian, as well as global brands.

Further areas of collaboration will include digital media solutions, in order to widen the international fan base and enable continuous interaction with Italian football fans worldwide.

“Our goal is to spread the perception and fascination of Italian football all over the world and strengthen its brand value,” commented Marco Bogarelli, Infront Italy’s President. “As opposed to the FIGC’s previous approach, the focus of this advisory partnership is international. We will jointly work on enhancing the positioning of the Italian National Team brand amongst other major football nations.”

“The synergy between us and the 24 ORE Group is perfect,” concluded Bogarelli. “Our capabilities in sports marketing and the media landscape respectively complement each other in the best possible way. Infront has a strong track record in managing international projects through its global network of subsidiaries and partners – particularly for the sport of football. The 24 Ore Group is close to the needs and interests of major companies and will assist in exporting their brands outside Italy through the alignment with the prestige of Italian football.”

“The 24 ORE Group, as the publisher of Il Sole 24 Ore – the most trusted voice of the Italian economy and the first digital newspaper in Italy, circulating over 190,000 digital copies – will provide a vital contribution toward showcasing the national team ‘Nazionale’ worldwide. This will be achieved along with ‘Made in Italy’ excellence – great Italian football together with Italian technology, manufacturing, food, fashion, design, art and culture. We are proud of partnering with Infront to undertake this wonderful challenge,” says Donatella Treu, CEO of the 24 ORE Group.

Infront and the 24 ORE Group’s proposal was selected this week by the Presidential Committee of the FIGC. The two partners will cooperate with Rai.com for access to a tremendous archive of Italian football footage.