A report published today, asthma April 5, from the UK House of Lords Committee, says that the potential of sport is under-exploited at both EU and national level, despite its ability to deliver on core policy objectives in health, education, employment and social spheres.

The findings come at the end of an inquiry into Grassroots Sport undertaken by the Lords EU Sub-Committee on Social Policies and Consumer Protection. 

Involved in the inquiry were issues of how the EU can maximise the potential of sport in its own policy making and delivery, and how it can help Member States do the same. 

EU legislation can impact upon sport in a number of areas including intellectual property and single market legislation – the report looks at how these should be applied to sport to ensure the sustainability of grassroots sport, particularly its revenue streams from the broadcasting of professional sport.

Committee chair, Baroness Young stated: “Sport should not be regarded as a peripheral policy area.  We think there is much more value to be gained if sport is viewed as a powerful and effective tool in the delivery of objectives across the policy spectrum. 

“The other benefit to mainstreaming sport is a result of the fact that sport is vulnerable to unintended consequences of legislation in other areas.”

The tragic earthquake and tsunami which hit Japan on Friday has forced the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) to postpone Asian Champions League matches in the nation, as well as causing the figure skating World Championships in Tokyo to be cancelled.

Mohamed Bin Hammam, AFC president, stated via Twitter on Sunday that Champions League games scheduled for this week in Nagoya and Kashima would be indefinitely suspended to allow the country time to recover from the devastating disaster.

Nagoya Grampus was due to play United Arab Emirates’ club Al Ain on Tuesday and Kashima Antlers was scheduled to host Australia’s Sydney FC on Wednesday.

Bin Hammam stated: “I want to announce that AFC will postpone AFC Champions League matches in Japan until further notice. AFC will make an announcement after taking stock of the situation in the near future. This is a personal tragedy for me and I feel their pain. My thoughts are with the people of Japan in this very difficult hour.”

The domestic J-League has also been suspended, though the Japan national team’s soccer friendlies against Montenegro on March 25 and New Zealand on March 29 will go ahead. Other sporting events have been called off, including baseball games in Tokyo, Chiba and Yokohama, and a special committee meeting investigating match-fixing in sumo wrestling has also been delayed.

Despite stating on Friday that it had no plans to cancel the figure skating World Championships, due to be hosted in Tokyo on March 21, the International Skating Union (ISU) has since been forced to do so.

The website which claims to be the world’s first social betting website, Bodugi.com, has launched.

In combining a unique betting game with social network slant to encourage interaction between users, players can join a ‘table’ of members and predict various aspects of a sporting contest, with a stake starting from £5 (US$8.1). The most accurate predictions win cash prizes dependent on the number of players ‘at the table’.

The website incorporates a chat facility via Facebook and Twitter integration and public player profiles, including biographies and direct message facilities. Horseracing TV channel Racing UK is a launch partner and will provide exposure for Bodugi.com.

Co-founder Dave Nevison stated: “The Bodugi.com offering will change the face of the online gambling industry. Our unique game combined with social networking means that Bodugi is perfectly placed to challenge the established players in the sector.”

A Bodugi.com mobile application, available through Symbian, Android and iPhone devices, will be released in April 2011.

The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) has warned the competitors of the upcoming Mexican Open in the troubled Pacific resort of Acapulco, over security issues, advising players against travelling outside hotels.

Players were advised to leave the city immediately after being eliminated from the tournament despite the Mexican government assuring the ATP that appropriate security measures have been put in place.

The Associated Press news agency quotes local police as saying that, several arrests have been made following a recent spate of drug-related violence in the city and a weekend of attacks on taxis in the city left 12 drivers or passengers dead.

In January, the bodies of 15 headless men were found outside a shopping centre in the resort but despite this, defending men’s singles champion, Spaniard David Ferrer, has said he has no fears about being there.

But David Nalbandian of Argentina said on Saturday he was thinking about withdrawing, adding that he also had a groin injury: “It’s a great and enjoyable tournament to play,” he said.

“But for right now it’s a little more difficult because of the security situation. We [players] are a bit scared about this and we’re trying to decide what to do.”

Pharmaceutical Laboratory group Zydus have expanded their deal with Super League Rugby club the Catalan Dragons, becoming one of the lead sponsors of the side after previously being one of 19 second tier corporate sponsors of the club.

The Dragons will wear the pharmaceutical laboratory group’s logo on the front of their jerseys for home matches in the 2011 Engage Super League season.

Zydus France chairman Karl Parance spoke of the deal: “The ongoing relations that we have with your vice president and pharmacist Philippe Arcens reinforce our desire to be on the side of pharmacy and to support local events. Finally we are hoping for a beautiful rugby season for the Catalan Dragons and the sharing of powerful events on the pitch.”

Catalan Dragons managing director Christophe Jouffret added: “Putting in place of this financial arrangement makes them our principal sponsor for all our home matches. Well aware of the positive spinoffs from this win/win partnership, we will endeavour to wear the colours of Zydus with pride and to present their image in our future victories.”

The Russian Premier League has seen its second casualty in less than a year after it was announced on Tuesday 21 that soccer side Amkar Perm had pulled out of the nation’s top flight due to financial difficulties. The Urals-based club will drop down to the second tier of Russian soccer, following FK Moscow who were forced to withdraw from the league earlier this year after their main financial backer, Norilsk, withdrew its support.

Amkar’s president, Valery Chuprakov confirmed his resignation on the club’s official website and released a statement revealing that he had written an official letter to the league to inform the body of Amkar’s decision.

“In light of the difficult financial situation, the club has voluntarily decided to play (in Russia’s second division),” Chuprakov stated on www.amkar.org. “As of today, the club has accumulated debts of 167 million roubles ($5.4 million) and negotiations with potential sponsors have not come to fruition.”

Lotus Racing has announced that they are to return to their famous black and gold colour scheme of the 90’s for the 2011 F1 season.

Despite a dark cloud surrounding Tony Fernendes’s squad over naming rights for the team in 2011, they are pushing ahead with their plans and will run both cars under the same colour scheme of the John Player Special cars which will evoke so many memories.

To bring the fans even closer to the team in its second season Head of Marketing Silvi Schaumloeffel today explained how the 2011 livery will be designed: “We have worked all year to make sure our fans are given unprecedented access to our team. We are all very excited about the move to a black and gold paint scheme for next season, and we want our fans to help us design the livery that will be racing around the world next year. We will shortly be announcing exactly how the fans can take part in our design process. The person who designs the livery we finally choose will be joining us at our first test next year to see the car out on track for the very first time, so for Lotus and F1™ fans it is the chance of a lifetime to help us take the next step forward in our amazing story in 2011.”

Riad Asmat, Lotus Racing Chief Executive, added his thoughts on the next step in the Lotus Racing story: “When we first unveiled our 2010 car there was unanimous praise for our decision to bring the historic green and yellow livery back to the modern F1 grid. I know the return to the track of the legendary black and gold will be met with even more universal support as it strikes such an emotional chord with fans around the world. Giving those fans the chance to help us bring it back to the contemporary grid is true to our core belief of putting our supporters right at the heart of Lotus Racing – we can’t wait to show the world what we come up with!”

Next month’s Bledisloe Cup rugby Test between Australia and New Zealand in Hong Kong will go ahead despite reports the match may be moved because of poor ticket sales.

New Zealand television reports have said the match, which is due to take place on 30 October at Hong Kong Stadium, could be moved to England because fewer than 10,000 tickets have so far been sold for the 40,000-seat venue.

However, the Hong Kong Rugby Football Union has released a statement saying: “The match has definitely not been cancelled and will go ahead, as planned, at Hong Kong Stadium on 30 October, 2010.”

Australia Rugby Union boss, John O’Neill, added: “There are no plans to cancel the match, we’ve got to find ways and means of getting ticket sales back to what they should be.

“The arrangements around this match are a bit different to the ones two years ago in that we’ve left a lot of the organisation to the Hong Kong Rugby Union, for which they’re getting paid a fee, and I think it’s fair to say we need to be more hands on and work very hard to make sure that it is a success.”

Hong Kong hosted the first Bledisloe Cup game on a neutral ground in 2008, while the fourth match of the 2009 series took place at Tokyo’s Olympic Stadium.

National Football League (NFL) franchise the Jacksonville Jaguars has signed a fiver-year deal with local financial services company Everbank for the naming rights to the team’s stadium.

Everbank Field will replace the moniker of Jacksonville Municipal Stadium, which had been in place since 2007.

Team owner Wayne Weaver said: “I clearly think it’s a game-changer. Today’s [Tuesday] announcement demonstrates [Everbank’s] confidence that Jacksonville is a viable football market.”

Everbank chairman and CEO Robert Clements said the agreement was “arguably one of the most exciting milestones in the evolution of Everbank”.

Jaguars senior vice president for sales and marketing, Macky Weaver, added: “It certainly will be a pat on Jacksonville’s back to go from the negative publicity that we received last year, based on the decline in season tickets, to come back this quickly because of a community-based effort, local business effort, a company that’s based out of Jacksonville stepping up to put their name on this building.”

The British Government has revealed it will invest up to US$15 million to fund a schools’ Olympics.

The money will be spent on creating a local league structure for primary and secondary schools. Winning teams will compete in 60 county finals before going on to a national final.

Culture, Media and Sport Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, claimed the idea was created to dispel the myth that competitive sport is bad for children. He said: “We have to realise that sport is a good thing. It does not damage your self-esteem, it helps to strengthen your self-esteem because sport is often about picking yourself up.

“Sport – whether you win or lose – teaches young people great lessons for life. It encourages teamwork, dedication and striving to be the best that you can be. This will be a key part of our drive to leave a real lasting sports legacy from London’s Games.”

However, the move has been criticised by some who say that it is not different enough from existing school sports events and that it comes at a time when budgets in most other sections are being cut.

Education Secretary, Michael Gove, defended this saying : “We need to revive competitive sport in our schools.

“Fewer than a third of school pupils take part in regular competitive sport within schools, and fewer than one-in-five take part in regular competition between schools. The School Olympics gives us a chance to change that for good.”