Rajasthan Royals, sacked IPL franchise confirmed that they have filed a legal petition against India’s national cricket governing body, BCCI’s decision to terminate their franchise agreement.

“We have tried to meet with the BCCI to understand the basis for the termination, which was recieved without notice. We do not understand what we have done wrong, and it is therefore our duty to the fans of the IPL, our employees, our players and our partners to pursue the matter. The matter is expected to be listed this Wednesday. We would not like to state anything further since the matter is sub judice,” the spokesperson said.

Rajasthan Royals, winners of the inaugural edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), were expelled from the Twenty20 tournament last Sunday for alleged violations of rules, with seven years of their 10-year contract still to run.

The BCCI had said that Rajasthan violated the franchise agreement and there were irregularities in their ownership pattern.

But the club promoters deny this allegation. The BCCI had also terminated the contract of Kings XI Punjab for a similar reason.

The share price of sportswear manufacturer Nike has reached an all-time high of US$83.40 following the announcement of its five-year deal with the National Football League (NFL).

Nike has agreed a deal with the NFL giving them official endorsement of on-field and sideline personnel apparel as well as fan gear rights from 2012 onwards.

The company replaces Adidas-owned Reebok, ampoule which paid US$300 million for a ten-year deal that runs out next season.

President of Nike Brand Charlie Denson said of the deal: “We believe our agreement with the NFL enhances the Nike brand, and provides a significant opportunity to drive growth across the business -both in our performance products and sportswear.”

The NFL also made licensing rights deals with New Era, GIII, VF, Outerstuff and ’47 brand. Reports claim the six deals could be worth a combined US$1 billion.

PERFORM, the digital sports specialist, has appointed Matt Kelly to the new position of managing director at PERFORM publishing.

Kelly will be responsible for building new audiences and revenue streams across a number of sports from January next year.

He will join form Trinity Mirror, where he is currently digital content director of Mirror Group and was in charge of the recently launched Mirrorfootball.co.uk and 3am.co.uk.

Kelly said: “I’ve had 16 brilliant years with the Mirror and am incredibly proud of everything the digital team has achieved here – particularly Mirror Football and 3am.co.uk, but now it’s time for a fresh challenge.”

PERFORM joint-chief executive Simon Denyer added: “PERFORM now generates and accesses more sports video, editorial and data than any other media company in the world so we wanted to bring someone in with creative drive and a proven track record to take these assets and create a range of new direct-to-consumer sports channels.

“Following the resounding success of ePlayer, which is now the world’s leading premium sports VOD broadcaster with 31 million unique users a month, we have hired Matt to launch and manage other new mass audience initiatives.”

The World Championship FIM Speedway Grand Prix series is set to return to the southern hemisphere in 2015 at the Etihad Stadium, asthma Melbourne.

The 2015 FIM Speedway World Champion will be crowned Down Under after BSI Speedway, medstore rights holders of the FIM Speedway Grand Prix (SGP) series, medic signed a five-year deal to stage the Australian FIM Speedway Grand Prix at Melbourne’s state-of-the-art Etihad Stadium.

The largest indoor motor racing spectacle in the Southern Hemisphere sees SGP action return to Australia on October 24, 2015; the first time it has featured Down Under for 13 years.

With everything from FIM Speedway World Championship medals to 2016 FIM Speedway Grand Prix qualification places set to be decided at Etihad Stadium, BSI Speedway managing director Paul Bellamy is delighted to be bringing the series home to the country where speedway was born in the early 20th century.

He said: “Australia is one of the true superpowers of world speedway and it has been a long-term goal of ours to take the FIM Speedway Grand Prix series back Down Under.

“The SGP series has visited some fabulous venues across the globe and Etihad Stadium is up there with the very, very best of them.

“Melbourne lives and breathes motor sport and sport in general. We hope Melburnians, Victorians and fans from all over Australia, New Zealand and the rest of the world embrace the event next year.

“Despite the retirement of triple world champion Jason Crump and record 10-time Aussie champ Leigh Adams in recent years, the production line of world-class Australian talent just keeps rolling.

“I’m sure the likes of Chris Holder and Jason Doyle, who has qualified for the 2015 series, will be absolutely elated to be racing in such a big meeting on home soil.

“Their fans spend most of the season getting up in the early hours of the morning to watch them in action live on the Speed channel. I hope they will enjoy the opportunity to support them at Etihad Stadium, and at a far more civilised hour!”

Etihad Stadium is situated in Melbourne’s CBD, surrounded by shops and restaurants and adjacent to Southern Cross Station – the city’s main transport hub.

As well as hosting some of the world’s top music artists, the venue stages everything from AFL (Aussie Rules) and cricket to soccer and darts.

Paul Sergeant, chief executive officer of Melbourne Stadiums Ltd, owners of Etihad Stadium, looks forward to bringing more world-class sport to a world-class venue.

He said: “Bringing FIM Speedway Grand Prix racing to Etihad Stadium has been on our agenda for some time and is a tremendous coup for Melbourne. We’re looking forward to an exciting five years of SGP action and are in no doubt it will become a hugely popular event.

“We’re proud to be staging and promoting the Australian FIM Speedway Grand Prix, which will be privately funded.

“The SGP series is spectacular. It’s in an easy to follow format with fast and exciting racing. Here at Etihad Stadium, air horns will be more than welcome, so the noise will be something special under our roof!

“With adult tickets starting at $49 AUD, this is a fantastic opportunity to see the best riders in the world live, without spending the thousands of dollars needed to travel to Europe.

“We’re also looking forward to working with Australian Speedway legends Jason Crump and Leigh Adams, who will serve as Australian SGP ambassadors. It’s an honour to have them on board and we hope the event will help the current crop of Aussie stars become legends in their own right.”

Ticketing provider Paciolan has announced that Purdue University (Purdue) has renewed its 32-year partnership with the company.

With the long-term partnership renewal, Purdue will continue to leverage Paciolan’s industry leading ticketing, marketing and fundraising solutions, and has implemented the company’s Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and data warehouse solutions.

The university will also continue to utilize Paciolan’s strategic partnership with secondary ticketing marketplace provider StubHub. Purdue has been a Paciolan partner since 1982. Paciolan is a subsidiary of the Philadelphia-based sports and entertainment firm Comcast-Spectacor.

“Our partnership with Paciolan has allowed us to achieve success and expand our initiatives through the leading tools in college athletics,” said Morgan Burke, athletics director at Purdue. “For more than 30 years with Paciolan, we have ensured our fans and donors consistently enjoy a personalized experience and can utilize cutting-edge solutions when they engage with Purdue Athletics.”

“Our continued partnership with Paciolan has enabled us to stay ahead of technology and offer an enhanced fan experience,” said Barb Kapp, senior associate athletics director of business at Purdue. “This past season we were able to offer both mobile ticketing and delivery to our students, enabling a completely digital solution. Programs like this, as well as the hands on support we receive from Paciolan, have been invaluable to our success.”

Cape Verde are set to fight FIFA’s ruling resulting in them being kicked out of the World Cup qualifying competition by appealing to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

Cape Verde, who beat Tunisia 2-0 away to finish top of African Group B, forfeited the match after FIFA ruled that defender Fernando Varela had been ineligible to play.

Tunisia were awarded a 3-0 win which put them top of the group and into the playoff round in Cape Verde’s place.

The Tunisians have already played the first leg of their playoff, drawing 0-0 at home to Cameroon last month.

Varela was banned for four matches after being sent off in an earlier Group B game against Equatorial Guinea, which Cape Verde lost 4-3.

That result itself was overturned, and the game awarded to Cape Verde 3-0, after FIFA ruled that Equatorial Guinea’s Emilio Nsue, who scored a hat-trick, was not eligible to play.

Cape Verde argued that the red card and subsequent ban should not have counted as the match had been declared void.

The Lausanne-based tribunal said on Tuesday it had registered the protest, although it could not yet give a date for the hearing and decision.