The National Basketball Association (NBA) has agreed a partnership with Society43 for the Portland-based sunglasses and accessories company to design a line of team-themed sunglasses for all 30 squads.

The company already offers an officially licensed, price  collegiate collection of eyewear. Similar to the school logoed glasses, the new NBA line will feature designs to match the style and culture of every team.

The British Horseracing Authority (BHA) has revealed it has approved the principle of racing on Good Friday next year ahead of the publication of the 2014 fixture list.

Racing’s rulers agreed to take applications from racecourses to stage meetings on the bank holiday last month, despite opposition from some racing professionals, as open days in the training centres of Lambourn and Middleham are traditionally staged on Good Friday.

The details of which courses will race on Good Friday is still to be confirmed, though the fixtures will remain under the control of BHA.

A BHA press release read: “Racecourses were asked to submit applications which covered specific BHA criteria, including prize money commitment on the day, forecast attendances, support for participants and stakeholders, and overall net contribution to the sport.

“Extensive consultation also took place with stakeholders and interested parties enabling the Board to assess the proposal with all feedback taken into consideration and to take a view in the best interests of the sport overall.”

The final composition of the fixture list for 2014 is to be announced next week and will be influenced by which racecourses or racecourse groups have signed the prize money agreements which were unveiled last weekend.

However, the BHA confirmed that the fixture list will not exceed the 1,464 fixtures programmed in 2013.

Paul Bittar, chief executive of BHA, said: “The BHA Board agreed to delay signing off on the full fixture list in order to allow further racecourses time to reach prize money agreements with the Horsemen’s Group and BHA.

“Whether racecourses have or have not signed prize money agreements or have made a specific commitment to prize money will have an influence on the allocation of the outstanding fixtures controlled by the BHA.”

The Great American Ball Park, home to the Cincinnati Reds will host the 2015 MLB All-Star Game, according to the The Cincinnati Enquirer.

Baseball commissioner Bud Selig is expected to make an official announcement on Wednesday in Cincinnati, according to the Enquirer’s sources. 

The Reds declined to comment.

Reds owner Bob Castellini said last opening day that Cincinnati would be getting an All-Star Game, but he would not say which year, according to the Enquirer. 

The last All-Star Game in Cincinnati took place in 1988 at Riverfront Stadium, the predecessor to Great American Ball Park. The 2015 game will be the fifth all-time to be played in Cincy (1938, 1953 and 1970 were the other years), the Enquirer noted.

This year’s All-Star Game will be held at Citi Field in New York, home of the Mets. The Minnesota Twins will host the 2014 game at Target Field in Minneapolis.

World Series of Boxing (WSB), the Indian Boxing Federation (IABF) and TransStadia, confirmed today that the India-based franchise would sit-out WSB Season III in order to maximize its long-term impact on the boxing world both technically and commercially. 

This follows rumours the franchise were going to call it quits due to a lack of funds and administration problems.

“Like all Indian boxing fans and media, over the past few years AIBA has witnessed the impressive rise of Indian Boxing and its performance on the global stage”, stated Dr Ching Kuo-Wu, AIBA President and Chairman of the WSB Board. “With the laws of the game changing from the classic amateur to the professional style of boxing, we want to ensure that India is in a position to do well in all the three AIBA platforms: Olympic Boxing, WSB and the soon to be launched AIBA Professional Boxing (APB). AIBA will be working with the IABF towards helping them make this transition as smoothly, efficiently and quickly as possible. India needs time to devise a development programme to educate and prepare its boxers for professional style boxing so they can compete competitively at the highest level.We look forward to seeing the India Fighters achieve success in WSB.” 

“WSB and its innovative style of boxing is not only exciting to watch but also the future of our sport”, declared Brig PK Murlidharan Raja, Secretary General of the IABF. “TransStadia have impressively played their part in this initiative in their first season despite the short period of time they had to pull it off. While India has improved its performance in Olympic boxing, there is a need to create a development programme which provides our boxers with a smooth transition to the pro level, which is the way forward. This will happen under the guidance of AIBA and with the involvement of the WSB Indian Franchise. We will make sure our joint initiatives get the support from the Sports Ministry, the National Olympic Committee and all stakeholders within the Federation to guarantee the WSB Indian Franchise can come back as a stronger unit.” 

“Our commitment to the sport of boxing in India remains intact”, affirmed Mr. Udit Sheth, TransStadia Chief Executive Officer and India Fighters Principal. “We are seeking a robust support structure from both AIBA and IABF. While the support received last season was tremendous, going forward we need more development programs which will act as a stepping stone towards pro boxing. IABF and AIBA have promised to ensure that these initiatives will be implemented. We are looking forward to coming back as a team and to working towards the objective of continuing on the memorable journey we started last year.” 

The IABF and WSB’s Indian franchise will now work in tandem towards the same goal with AIBA’s guidance.

Manchester United Manager, therapy Sir Alex Ferguson, buy viagra joined Richard Scudamore, Premier League Chief Executive and Football Foundation Trustee, to launch a major new programme which will invest in the development of new or enhanced local sports facilities across England and Wales.

The Premier League Community Facility Fund (PLCFF), funded by the Premier League and delivered by the Football Foundation, is investing £18m over three years to develop new or refurbished sports facilities for local people across the country. The Fund is open to all football club community-led organisations from the Premier League, Football League, and Football Conference, including the Conference North and South Divisions.

The new PLCFF-enhanced sites will also help to strengthen links between professional football clubs and their communities, and will become venues for the clubs’ outreach work.

Sir Alex and Richard Scudamore officially unveiled Stretford High School’s new, full-size floodlit third-generation artificial grass pitch built with the help of a £350,000 grant from the PLCFF.  The school has had historically poor sports facilities but the new pitch is a key part of the new Stretford Sports Village, a state-of-the-art multi-sport complex that has been developed less than a mile from both Manchester United’s Old Trafford stadium and Lancashire County Cricket Club.

Richard Scudamore, Premier League Chief Executive and Football Foundation Trustee, said: “The Premier League has been banging the drum for sports participation for many years now and it is heartening to see that this issue is moving higher up the political agenda. The Premier League Community Facility Fund is all about providing sports facilities that reinvigorate local communities. So this £18m of funding, which is available to 160 clubs across six tiers of English football, is investment that will have a lasting impact.

“The community of North Trafford is the first to benefit from the PLCFF. They have never had far to look for inspiration and this new facility will add to that legacy by significantly increasing sports participation to the 3,000 young people who will use. Stretford High School will also be Manchester United Foundation’s eighth base for their magnificent Hub of the Community work, so once again one of our clubs is placing itself at the heart of their local community and using football to make a positive social difference.”

Sir Alex Ferguson, Manchester United Manager who opened Stretford High School in 1992, added: “On the back of the Olympics, everyone is talking about how sport can improve fitness and keep people active. The great thing about the Premier League is that they have been doing this kind of work for a long time now. They do not get the publicity they deserve and without their funding initiatives like this it would not happen. The Stretford Sports Village is a fantastic facility for young people. Whether the young people who use it ever become a champion or not, play for Manchester United or not, that is not the issue – the thing is they will be enjoying playing sport and they should take great inspiration from it.”

Paul Thorogood, Chief Executive of the Football Foundation, said: “The opening of Stretford Sports Village’s stunning new 3G pitch is great news not only for this part of Manchester but also for towns and cities across the country, as it signals the official launch of the Premier League Community Facility Fund.

“The Football Foundation is very proud to be delivering the PLCFF programme in partnership with the Premier League, which will see £18m invested into developing new grassroots sports facilities and strengthening the link between professional football clubs and their local communities.

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Premier League for its support for grassroots football over the last 12 years, during which time it has directly invested nearly £200m in the Football Foundation to support projects like this all over the country.”

The Manchester United Foundation is a key partner of the project.  As part of the application to the PLCFF they worked with the Trafford Leisure Trust to produce a Football Development Plan that details how the facilities will be used.  The plan meets each of the Premier League’s four ‘corporate social responsibility strands’, namely, community cohesion, education, health and sports participation.

MU Foundation will have ten hours free use of the facility each week and will deliver Kickz community project sessions at the site each week. These initiatives will be delivered by a MU Foundation Hub Officer, who is based permanently in the school for the next three years. His job is to work with feeder primary schools, teachers, parents, local community groups and partnership organisations to develop a provision that is appropriate for North Trafford.

The site will also be a venue for the Manchester FA Coach Education programme, 9 v 9 football, initiatives aimed at reducing anti-social behaviour, community usage by a number of junior, women’s and disabled football clubs, as well as a Manchester United fan-zone experience for the local community to enjoy on match days.

Although based at Stretford High School, over half the usage (55%) will be for the local community. It is estimated that 1,100 boys and girls from the school will use the pitch each week, with a further 1,900 weekly users from the local community also benefiting.

Betfair, the world’s largest betting exchange, has agreed a deal with the International Olympic Committee to share information with the governing body on potentially suspect gambling at this year’s London Olympics.

Britain’s Olympics minister Hugh Robertson said earlier this month the integrity of the Games could be shattered by the “enormous” threat of illegal gambling rings trying to fix results.

Betfair said it had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the IOC laying out plans to co-operate and share customer and transactional data should suspicious activity be detected on an Olympic event.

“The interests of sports governing bodies, like the IOC, and Betfair are completely aligned in wanting to ensure consumers can bet on sporting events in a transparent and secure manner,” Betfair’s Chief Legal & Regulatory Affairs Officer Martin Cruddace said in a statement on Thursday.

Betfair said its integrity team monitors its systems for signs of suspicious activity, tracking every bet placed using specialised software which identifies suspicious bets.

IOC president Jacques Rogge has spoken of the danger illegal gambling rings pose to the Games.

The issue of sports betting corruption was brought to the fore last year when former Pakistan cricket captain Salman Butt and bowler Mohammad Asif were jailed after being found guilty of taking bribes to fix parts of a test match against England in 2010.

Earlier on Thursday, a former English county cricketer pleaded guilty to taking money to fix part of a match.

FIFA has outlined its latest plans to combat match-fixing in football.

Chris Eaton, FIFA Security Director, revealed that the organisation are working with insiders within criminal enterprises to combat the problem.

The announcement reflects the work which has begun between FIFA and Interpol – the pair signed an agreement in May 2010 which guaranteed $29 million over a period of ten years to fight illegal betting and match-fixing.

Eaton stated, “Match-fixing can and does impact on qualifiers for Fifa competitions, and could impact on the global events themselves.

“What we’re doing now is developing sources both in criminal organisations and football that will advise us”.

A quarter of FIFA’s member associations are currently undertaking national investigations, including up to fifty individual cases.

Eaton continued “We are creating a hostile environment for match-fixers to make them realise we will expose them.”

It is believed that World Cup qualifiers for the 2014 tournament in Brazil are likely to be a particular target for betting plots, especially between those who are unlikely to qualify.

Qualifying matches started in November last year and run through 2012 and into 2013.

FIFA will open a hotline for whistleblowers next month which will provide rewards over a course of three months.

Eaton explained “In 2012, players, officials and even administrators will have a place to go – even anonymously – to tell their story, and that’s with the commencement of the amnesty, rewards and hotline programme. There will be a website, telephone number and a dedicated email-address – in all languages.”

The Security Director warned that organised crime is drawn to football because of the “enormous gambling interest” in the game.

He said that FIFA is not against gambling per se but warned against the dangers of the current climate.

“Over 90% of sport-related gambling in south-east Asia is on football matches, particularly international contests. This is about international – transcontinental in fact – organised crime.

“We see the footprints of Singaporean criminals throughout Europe, Africa and Central America. The infiltration of serious criminals into our associations and football generally is the most pressing issue”.

Mikhail Prokhorov, the owner of the New Jersey Nets basketball team and one of Russia’s richest tycoons, said he will run against Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in the March presidential election.

The colorful Prokhorov, who has a net worth estimated at $18 billion, could pose a serious challenge to Putin, whose authority has been dented by alleged widespread fraud during Russia’s Dec. 4 parliamentary election.

He made his fortune in investments and precious metals and bought the New Jersey Nets in 2010 for a reported price of $200 million.

Putin’s party only won about 50 percent of that vote, compared to 64 percent four years ago, and the fraud allegations have allowed opposition parties to successfully mount massive anti-Putin protests in Russia.

On Saturday tens of thousands of people in Moscow and smaller numbers in more than 60 other cities protested election fraud and called for an end to Putin’s rule.

“The society is waking up,” Prokhorov said at his news conference in Moscow.

He will have a good chance of appealing to Russia’s growing opposition, which includes prosperous middle-class residents, many of whom are angered by Putin’s bid to reclaim the presidency.

Asked whether he is going to join another opposition rally planned later this month in Moscow, Prokhorov wouldn’t say, but he added that he agrees with many of the anti-Putin slogans that were shouted out during Saturday’s protests.

Prokhorov’s presidential bid follows his botched performance in the parliamentary race, when he formed a liberal party under tacit support of the Kremlin, then abandoned the project under what he called Kremlin pressure.

He has personally blamed Vladislav Surkov, a presidential deputy chief of staff, for staging a mutiny within the party’s ranks. “I will solve that problem by becoming his boss,” Prokhorov said Monday when he was asked whether Surkov could pose obstacles to his presidential bid.

Major Chinese sports apparel brand, 361° has become a key partner of the World Curling Federation and the Swedish Curling Association, in a deal brokered by Infront Sports & Media.

In their role as Official Media and Marketing Partner of the World Curling Federation (WCF), Infront has secured 361° in a sponsorship and equipment contract, covering the full schedule of international WCF events in the 2010/11 to 2013/14 period.

The Chinese company also becomes Official Partner and Equipment Provider of the Swedish Curling Association. The agreement has been brokered by Infront’s “Gateway to China” service, based in Switzerland.

The contract with 361°, one of China’s top sport apparel brands, includes a wide range of rights over a four-year period with product category exclusivity. The company will be both – Official Equipment Provider and Official Partner, for the international governing body, the World Curling Federation (WCF), as well as for the Swedish Curling Association (SCA).

All Board Members and Staff of the WCF will wear 361° clothing at all World Curling Championship events and during the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi. The Swedish Curling team will wear 361° apparel at all its major international curling events as well. The 361° logo will be featured on all team clothing.

Jun Ling, Brand Director of 361°, said: “The sport of curling has drastically gained in popularity in China as well as internationally. Our partnership with the WCF and the SCA provide our company with a perfect platform to communicate our brand both domestically and internationally. Given the growing popularity of curling and the strong communication impact of major international curling events including the competitions during the Winter Olympic Games, our brand will highly benefit from this sponsorship commitment. Thanks to its intercontinental approach and network, Infront provided us with an attractive way to enter a new market and position 361° outside China.”

Kate Caithness, President of the World Curling Federation, added: “Once again, Infront’s efforts in streamlining the marketing programme and enhancing the communication value of WCF events for major brands has proved successful. In addition, 361° has – already in the past – proven its commitment to our sport, when it provided the official sportswear of the Chinese Men’s and Women’s Curling teams during the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver.”