The Centre for Social Justice has released a report claiming that the London 2012 Olympics will struggle to keep its promise to help the UK’s most disadvantaged young people, saying that the pledge to provide a sporting legacy would be a “highly effective sales pitch that was never fully realised”.

A £135m initiative, funded by the National Lottery, was launched to encourage mass participation in November as the government said it was committed to “delivering a lasting legacy”, with Olympics minister Hugh Robertson stating that improving facilities is a top priority.

Robertson also launched an initiative to offer young people six weeks of coaching in the sport of their choice but the think tank’s report says: “The scale of the challenge that the Olympic organisers have set themselves is too high for the relatively limited amounts of funding and the programmes that have been promised, to deliver successfully.”

The report claimed that improved sporting facilities would not raise participation in sport and taster coaching courses had failed to engage disadvantaged groups, adding: “Limited available funding and the tendency to direct what there is into capital spending and short-term programming mean that it is difficult to see how the money allocated to this can be expected to produce greater benefits for disadvantaged young people.

“The participation target was intrinsically flawed from the outset, not just because it was more convincing as a sales pitch than a policy objective, but also because engaging any number of additional people in some unspecified sporting activity is not the same thing as a serious, targeted work aimed at transforming the lives of Britain’s neediest people.”

A spokeswoman for the Department for Culture Media and Sport said they had not seen the full report but that the government and Olympic organisers were “committed to delivering a lasting legacy from the 2012 Games”.

She added: “We are investing hundreds of millions of pounds to create better facilities and give people more opportunities to play sport. It is nonsense to suggest that there is no link between British sporting success and participation.”

The report, More Than A Game: Harnessing The Power Of Sport To Transform The Lives Of Disadvantaged Young People, will be launched tomorrow, May 24.

The UK’s Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport, Jeremy Hunt admitted to being “very puzzled” by the row that developed between the British Olympic Association (BOA) and London 2012 regarding surplus from the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The dispute regards the fact that the BOA are due 20 per cent of any surplus after the Games, however they claim that the cost of staging the Paralympics should not be taken into account when calculating that surplus.

A decision was taken by the BOA to temporarily suspend their earlier notion to take the row to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), instead deciding to reopen talks with London 2012.

While Hunt is confident that an amicable solution to the dispute will be found, he stated that he found the BOA’s actions rather perplexing, saying: “I was very puzzled by what has happened [between the BOA and London 2012].

“This was not the right argument for us to be having so close to having the London 2012 Games.

“However I am confident that we’re working our way through a solution on this and I’m very hopeful that we’ll be able to go back to business as normal in the near future.

“So its fingers crossed.”

Hunt, who was formerly Shadow Minister for Disabled People, met with London 2012 chairman Sebastian Coe yesterday to discuss the issue, who added: “The Paralympics means an awful lot to me.

“I never ever thought of myself going uniquely to win a bid to win an Olympic Games back [at the International Olympic Committee Session] in Singapore in 2005.

“I saw the legacy value of both the Olympic and Paralympic Games in equal measure and I continue to see just that.”

Shirt sponsors of La Liga soccer giant Real Madrid, Austrian online gaming firm Bwin has said revenues were up 15.2 per cent to US$723m in 2010.

The firm has over 20 million customers in 25 core markets and offers sports betting, poker and casino games, having established itself as one of the leading poker providers in France and a top three player in Italy in the last financial quarter.

Bwin also confirmed that the scheduled merger with Partygaming was on track to complete by April after the firms revealed plans to merge in a deal to create the world’s largest online gaming business last year.

The firm said it would continue to seek out similar long-term alliances to that of their sponsorship with a number of soccer clubs including the Spanish side, stating: “Bwin’s brand has become synonymous with sport through its sponsorship of some of the world’s biggest names in sport, such as Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.

“Its long-standing co-operation with soccer clubs like these and the Italian and Portuguese soccer leagues testify to the company’s continuing commitment to top soccer.”

The United States Olympic Committee (USOC) has promised to have a security plan in place before sending athletes to the Pan American Games this year in Guadalajara, which is engulfed in a deepening drug war.

Guadalajara’s ability to host thousands of athletes and tens of thousands of fans from across the Americas at the October 14-30 Pan American Games has been thrown into doubt over fears with regards to the violence in Mexico‘s second biggest city.

Scott Blackmun, the USOC’s chief executive, told reporters at the end of a board meeting on Tuesday, March 15: “We talked a lot about the Pan Am Games.

“Everyone is quite aware of the violence, we’re obviously concerned about it but at the end of the day we will have a good security plan in place to protect our athletes.”

The buildup to the Pan Am Games has been marred by violence as drug cartels battle for control of the host city.

Guadalajara has been the scene of escalating fighting with gangs attacking bars, police stations, hijacking cars and blocking major roads and highways.

USOC Chairman Larry Probst added: “On Thursday I am headed to Guadalajara for a two-day meeting and I am sure that security will be one of the significant issues that will be discussed. At that meeting we will hear from the Pan Am Games organizing committee what their plans are.”

Investec, an international specialist bank and asset manager, has extended its partnership with Epsom Downs beyond the Derby to include sponsorship of the racecourse’s Spring Meeting for the next three years.

Investec sponsored the Derby at Epsom for the first time in 2010, held over the first weekend in June, and has now added the entirety of the Spring Meeting on 20th April to its sponsorship portfolio.

The financial services firm will sponsor the entire day’s race card which features the first of the official Derby Trials, which Investec also lent its name to last year. 

Chairman of Epsom Downs, Anthony Cane said: ‘We are thrilled that Investec have agreed to continue their sponsorship of the Spring Meeting for the next three years. We work together in a true spirit of partnership – this agreement allows us to further build this relationship through our annual launch six weeks before the Derby Festival’.

Michael Beloff, pilule QC, ailment today heard an application from Salman Butt’s new legal representation for an adjournment of the full hearing into the spot-fixing charges against three Pakistan cricketers, cialis also including Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif.

Mr Beloff, the Chairman of the ICC Anti-Corruption Tribunal, following a lengthy telephone hearing and having received written submissions, has ruled that Mr Butt’s application is denied and as such, the full hearing will take place as scheduled from 6-11 January 2011 in Doha, Qatar.

The ICC Code of Conduct Commissioners are nominated by the Members countries while their allocation to a tribunal is by the Chairman of the ICC Code of Conduct Commission.

The ICC will make no further comment on this matter at this time.

The British Olympic Association (BOA) is clashing with some of the British home soccer bodies over the selection of non-English players for the London 2012 Olympics.

The Football Association of Wales (FAW) reiterated that Welsh players, such as Tottenham star Gareth Bale, would risk suspension if they take part in London 2012 just days ago. BOA Chief Executive, Andy Hunt told insidethegames that “our selection policy has to comply with the Olympic Charter”.

He reiterated that the “possibility of practising sport without discrimination of any kind” must be available: “We cannot have an explicit agreement that excludes non-English players from the team if they have expressed a wish to be selected”.

In a recent interview Bale, one of the players who would be widely expected to join up with a probable strong English contingent in a GB team, stated that “I would love to play in the Olympics, especially as it would be a part of a Great Britain team.”

Lord Sebastian Coe, impotent chairman of the London 2012 Olympic Games, sale has said he is “thrilled” that over 100,000 people have already applied to become volunteers for the Games.

At the halfway point in the six-week application window, thousands have already signed up to become Games Makers, as the roles are being called.

Research into the applications has revealed that 52 per cent of Londoners have said they were inspred by the 2012 Games to volunteer.

Coe said: “We are thrilled with the response so far from people and would like to thank everyone who has already filled in their application form and pledged to lend their time to the greatest show on earth.

“The London 2012 Games simply could not happen without volunteers.

“Whenever I have spoken to previous volunteers, they’ve all said what a fantastic experience it was.

“So don’t miss out on this opportunity of a lifetime. You’ve got three weeks left to fill-in your application form – don’t miss the deadline of October 27.”

Games organisers are looking for up to 70,000 dedicated volunteers to help at the 2012 event.

Zimbabwe Cricket has signed a kit sponsorship deal with sports manufacturer Reebok, it has been announced.

Managing director of Zimbabwe Cricket, Ozias Bvute, said: “I can confirm that an agreement has been reached with Reebok but we will make a public announcement in the next few weeks. We are currently finalising the details.”

The deal will cover all national teams and franchises, and sees an end to Zimbabwe Cricket’s long-term partnership with local manufacturer Faith Wear.

The national team is expected to start using the new Reebok kit as soon as possible.

Reebok is a subsidiary of German company Adidas which already has kit deals with the Sri Lanka and South Africa cricket teams.

The first Generations for Peace camp outside the Middle East has been opened by the organisation’s founder and chairman, Prince Feisal Al-Hussein.

The camp is based in Sochi, Russia, the the host of the 2014 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games. It will bring together 57 leaders of youth from eleven European and Central Asian countries involved in various conflicts.

Prince Feisal said: “This is the first time ever an organisation like Generations For Peace has collaborated so closely with an OCOG (Organising Committee for the Olympic Games).

“I cannot stress enough what an honour it is to be welcomed to the city that has been chosen by the International Olympic Committee to host the next Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.

“This is the first time ever an organisation like Generations For Peace has collaborated so closely with an Organising Committees for the Olympic Games; the first time ever we have had this fantastic opportunity to celebrate with such unity our shared belief in the supreme importance of the Olympic values we all hold so dear; of respect and tolerance; fair play and teamwork; peace, understanding and reconciliation.”

The Sochi Camp 2010 becomes the seventh Generations for Peace Camp.