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.”

ESPN STAR Sports (ESS), doctor Global Media Rights partner of the Inetrnational Cricket Council (ICC) Cricket World Cup 2011, is gearing up its production to make sure that the one billion people who tune in from more than 180 territories around the world will enjoy an unrivaled spectator experience all from the comfort of their living rooms.

ESS are launching an array of on-air enhancements and compelling graphic presentation to accompany the insightful and trusted voices of its expert group of commentators.

For the first time, production of the ICC Cricket World Cup with be broadcast in the High Definition (HD) format and audiences will enjoy the most riveting experience as each and every match will be covered by at least 27 cameras, including such innovative features as movable slips cameras and new, low 45-degree field cameras.

ICC chief-executive Haroon Lorgat stated: “We expect the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 to be the most viewed cricket event in the history of the game. The unique passion and enthusiasm for our great sport in Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka will help to make this an event to remember and the biggest sporting event anywhere in the world this year.

“And for those people around the world who can’t be there in person, ESS’s production with an unrivaled array of expert commentators and exciting production initiatives will mean that more than a billion people can view every single game across all 13 venues from the comfort of their own home.”

Manu Sawhney, ESS Managing Director, said: “With less than 48 hours to go until the most iconic cricket event, we continue to receive a very positive response from our partners globally and from the sub-continent. The popularity and the significance of the tournament is well reflected in the fact that we have syndicated this event to more than 180 territories across the globe, making it the most widely distributed ICC Cricket World Cup so far.

“The 2011 edition will see many first-of-its-kind initiatives. It will be the very first time that an ICC event will have the Decision Review System (DRS) thus further enhancing the overall presentation of the game. For the very first time, the ICC Cricket World Cup will be shown across platforms in such an extensive manner as online and mobile 3G. Complementing this is a stellar line-up of cricket legends from various countries who will further augment the viewing experience for fans with their insightful and engaging commentary and expert comments.”

A five-member family of mascots for the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2011 was revealed at a glittering function at the Aspire Park in Doha on Thursday.

The mascots are Jerboas, medstore a rodent found in the deserts of Qatar. The characters are named after different locations in the North, pills South, medical East and West of Qatar.

The launch of the mascots put the preparations of the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2011 into top gear following the launch of countdown clock, tournament logo and physical ticket sales.

The characteristics of the mascots represent the spirit and values of the host country as well as the tournament itself.

Zkriti, father of the mascot family, is named after the Zekreet area in the west of Qatar while the mother – Tranaa – is named after the Turayna area in the south of the country.

Their eldest daughter, Freha is named after the Freha area in the north of Qatar while the first son Saboog is a common name for Jerboas in the Arabian Gulf, and is associated with speed.

The youngest son in the family, Tmbki is named after the Timbic area in east of Qatar.

The AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2011 will be played between 7 and 29 January, 2011.

International Rugby Board chief executive Mike Miller has said that it is a question of “when, not if” a rugby world cup will be played in the United States.

New Zealand will host the Rugby World cup in 2011 and England will host the 2015 Rugby World cup. The rugby world cup will then break the mould by moving to Japan which is not one of the sports big nations.

IRB Boss Miller says that the United States or even Russia could soon follow in the list of countries to host the Rugby World Cup.

“It’s a question of when – not if – it’s going to happen,” Miller told AP.

Rugby has joined the world’s major sports by being included in the Summer Olympics starting from 2016 but only in the 7-a-side format as the 15 man format requires players to have longer rest periods between matches which makes rugby tournaments last much longer.

The IRB wants the Olympics and the Rugby World Cup to raise the game’s profile in countries outside the currently participating outside Europe and Australasia.

The masses in America will be introduced to rugby next year when NBC broadcasts the World Cup from New Zealand for the first time.

2019 World cup hosts Japan have played in all of the past Rugby World cups but have only won once in 20 matches and are considered an emerging nation when it comes to rugby.

Miller says that the IRB named two host nations last year as established rugby nation England will make a big profit while Japan might not be as profitable but it will grow the game. Naming host nations so may years in advance gives planners more time to prepare and work for the event.

“If you only award one at a time, because all of our funding depends upon (the) Rugby World Cup, you’re more likely to take the safe, conservative option,” Miller said.

“If you do two together, you can take a longer-term view. You can say, ‘2015, that’s England, that’s a banker. Loads of money, that’ll work – full stadia, great press coverage.”

“Japan should work and should spread rugby in Asia. Coupled with England? Great, let’s do it. Japan versus England? Not quite so sure.”

If the IRB continues with their plan of rotating emerging nations and bankers the IRB could take the Rugby world cup to the United States in 2027 or Russia who’s broadcast times would be more favourable to the bulk of the rugby population.

“We need to grow the game all over the world and Asia’s a huge market,” Miller said.

“Europe’s a big market with 300 million, but then you look at India and China and you see 2.5 billion.”

The USA would also need to show the IRB that if they did hold a world cup in the region it would grow the game enough to leave a suitable legacy even though they might not need to build much in the way of infrastructure and stadiums.

“There’s no doubt they can hold it,” Miller said. “There’s no point having it if you then don’t have the infrastructure in place to benefit from it. “

“We would need to see what happens as a result of the exposure on NBC and the Olympics as Rio gets closer.

“It’s too early to tell what will happen in the USA in the next three or four years. It will be crucial seeing 2016 and Rio if the U.S. qualify. There’s no doubt the game is growing in the U.S., it’s just a question of how fast it is growing.”

Rugby will be boosted in Russia, who are in the same Pool as the USA in 2011, as they only allow schools to teach Olympic sports and they also allow teams to draw upon funding from national Olympic committees and their facilities.

“Rugby is now on the curriculum in the Moscow region. That’s of huge benefit to rugby in Russia,” Miller said.

“Previously you had after-school clubs, but you were one step removed and it makes things that little bit harder.

“In England, Australia and New Zealand, you start at 6, 7 or 8 years old. If they start at 15 or 16 in Russia or somewhere else, it’s really difficult to catch up those years lost.”

Anheuser-Busch has told Richard Petty Motorsports that the NASCAR team “will not receive the final payment on its 2010 sponsorship contract,” according to sources cited by Dave Moody of Sirius NASCAR Radio.

Anheuser-Bush’s contract with RPM “called for Kasey Kahne to be the driver of the Budweiser Ford, and when Kahne left the team five races early to join Red Bull Racing, that contract became null and void.”

There has been “no confirmation from either the team or Budweiser, and no word on what the final installment of that sponsorship would have been worth to the team.”

Budweiser was on RPM’s No. 9 car driven by Aric Almirola for Sunday’s Sprint Cup Series Amp Energy Juice 500, but ESPN’s Terry Blount noted it is unclear whether they will be on the car the rest of the way and how that affects whether the 9 car will finish the season.

RPM’s future is in jeopardy due in part to co-Owner George Gillett’s financial woes, but Blount said, “It does no one any good — not Richard Petty if he hopes to take over the team, not Roush Fenway and not the creditors — to shut things down with three races to go. I think they’re going to do everything possible to have all four cars finish the season for the last three races.”