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.

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.