The NBA announced that player training camps and all pre-season games for the 2011-12 season have been postponed indefinitely because a new collective bargaining agreement has not been reached with the National Basketball Players Association increasing the likelihood that there will be a delay to the season.

Training camps were scheduled to open on October 3. In addition, doctor the league canceled all preseason games scheduled from October 9 through October 15.

NBA Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver, said: “We have regretfully reached the point on the calendar where we are not able to open training camps on time and need to cancel the first week of preseason games.We will make further decisions as warranted.”

Since the start of the lockout on July 1 the NBA has cut its workforce by about 11% and postponed a program for rookie players. NBA owners have amassed losses of $300 million for the 2010-11 season and in excess of $1.5 billion over the six-year term of the previous collective bargaining agreement (CBA), are seeking significant reductions in player compensation. The previous CBA saw players receive 57% of league basketball-related income (BRI), equating to $2.176 billion from the total of $3.8 billion for the past season.

The two-day Investec Derby Festival at Epsom Downs was attended by over 150,000 people, including a crowd of more than 120,000 people on Saturday, June 4, for Investec Derby Day, making it Britain’s most attended day of sport in 2011.
 


A strong Royal presence at The Jockey Club’s Epsom Downs Racecourse saw Her Majesty The Queen joined by several family members including Prince William, Princess Kate and Prince Harry to cheer her horse, Carlton House, into third place in the world’s most famous Flat race.
 

Hospitality sales were up by 25 per cent year-on-year across the two days of the Investec Derby Festival and Paul Fisher, group managing director of Jockey Club Racecourses, said: “The Investec Derby is the most attended day in UK sport. As well as an increased attendance, we’ve also seen hospitality sales bounce back strongly.
 


“We can put this down to a combination of factors, including great promotional and sales work by the team at Epsom Downs capitalising on Her Majesty The Queen’s runner, marketing the event as Britain’s biggest day out and our fully integrated Jockey Club Catering operation. We were also blessed with some fantastic weather.”
 

Jockey Club Catering confirmed sales over the two days of 14,000 bottles of champagne, 65,000 pints of lager, 35,000 pints of Pimms and 1,000 picnics.

Fisher added: “We’ve seen strong numbers at our leading festivals this year, including the Cheltenham Festival and John Smith’s Grand National Meeting at Aintree, so the Investec Derby Festival has ensured that trend continues.”

The Amateur Boxing Association of England (ABAE) has been fined and its former chief executive Paul King has been banned from all involvement in the sport for two years following his disastrous bid to take over boxing worldwide.

The ABAE were charged US£1,140 for what the International Amateur Boxing Association (AIBA) claimed was, their involvement in an attempt to disrupt the 2010 AIBA Congress in Almaty, Kazakhstan, last October.

King was appointed as CEO of the ABAE in March 2005 and was on a long term secondment from the Liverpool City Council but withdrew his application to fulfil the role on a permanent basis earlier this year following his dramatic fall-out with AIBA.

King, a former AIBA Council Member, incurred the wrath of the world governing body after mounting a failed and controversial campaign to challenge Taiwanese President C K Wu before attempting to postpone the Congress.

The AIBA Congress went ahead as planned and following the re-election of Wu, the AIBA Disciplinary Commission commenced an investigation against 13 AIBA member federations to determine to what extent they were involved in attempts to postpone the event.

They have now decided to suspend King as well as General Taweep Jantararoj, the President of the Amateur Boxing Association of Thailand, from all involvement in amateur boxing for a period of 24 months.

Belgium, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, England, Ethiopia, Lao, Nepal, Romania, Thailand and Ukraine have all been hit with a fine of $1,140 for their attempts to postpone the Congress.

The creation of the Olympic Public Authority has been given formal approval by Brazil’s Senate to coordinate Government preparations for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

The bill was approved last week by the lower house Chamber of Deputies and has now been approved formally, to create the Olympic body, by a 46-13 vote.

The former president of Brazil’s Central Bank, Henrique Meirelles is set to be put in charge of Autoridade Pública Olímpica (PDB) – Olympics Public Authority.

The PDB was the idea of former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and is modelled on the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) set-up by London after it won its bid to host the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics.

When it is fully up and running it is expected to employ up to 500 people. Representatives from the federal, state and city Governments will make up the agency, which is expected to have a budget of around US$18bn.

The agency, whose creation was agreed upon with the International Olympic Committee, will be responsible for coordinating investments, mostly in infrastructure, planned for the Olympic Games that will take place in Rio for 2016.

Emirates, the leading Dubai-based airline company, has extended its title sponsorship of cricket’s Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise, Kings XI Punjab (KXIP).

The news comes as just one of a number of sponsorship renewals after the franchise revealed that the likes of apparel partner Reebok, official games for challenge partner USL and official chewing gum Wrigley would all be returning for the 4th edition of the hit cricket league.

KXIP promoters said in a statement: “We are thrilled to have Emirates, Reebok, USL and Wrigley with us yet again for the upcoming season of IPL season IV. We are invigorated and look forward to a fruitful association as our sponsors have reaffirmed that they share the same passion towards cricket and our values. We as a team are eagerly waiting for the tournament to begin and assure an electrifying cricketing experience to our fans in India and overseas.”

Emirates Airline Vice President – India & Nepal, Orhan Abbas added: “We have been very proud of our association with the IPL over the past two seasons. The tournament has grown bigger and better and the standard of the teams has also improved in that time. The Kings XI Punjab team looks very well balanced this season and we are looking forward to a great tournament.”

“The apparel being designed especially for the team will be at the forefront of apparel technology and will be made available in a fresh new design for the fans as well. A die hard cricket fan always wants to live his passion and at Reebok we are glad to give him an opportunity to live his passion through our support of Kings XI Punjab and exciting merchandize that we will soon be launching in our stores,” added the Reebok India team.

According to United Spirits Business Head Ltd Debashish Shyam, “Royal Challenge is delighted to continue its association with Kings XI Punjab for the fourth season of IPL. We believe that the Kings XI Punjab team embodies the attitude of taking on challenges and being ‘Game for Life’. This is the core of brand Royal Challenge. We look forward to an exciting and successful year ahead particularly more so with a new, young and vibrant KXIP team.”

The Ukrainian capital of Kiev have unveiled plans for a new motorsport circuit with an intent to host a Formula One Grand Prix in the country in the coming years.

Anatoliy Prysiazhniuk, malady head of the state administration department stated that the city will spend US$1bn on the construction of a new 5.2 kilometre circuit at the start of the New Year. The project will begin with target completion date set in 2013 for the track which will be situated on 100 hectares of land on the fringes of the capital.

In an interview with the Kyiv Post, Prysiazhniuk stated: “We will build an international track in the Polissia and Ivankiv districts in order to host international competitions. I saw the project, and experts from Europe assessed it.”

He added: “The project was drafted by a person from Denmark who built the tracks in the (United Arab) Emirates, Singapore and other countries. The track will meet all modern requirements.” According to reports, the development will also include a number of hotels and comes as the country look to further enhance their sporting profile after being awarded with the joint hosting of the UEFA European Championships with Poland.

Paddy Power has gained full control of Australian betting company Sportsbet, after agreeing to buy the remaining shares in the company. Paddy Power will pay 132.6m Australian dollars (US$133m) for the remaining 39.2 per cent stake.

Paddy Power first bought the majority 51 per cent stake of Sportsbet in 2009 with the overall buyout set to be completed by the end of February 2011.

A further US$25.1m will be owed by Paddy Power if Sportsbet’s 2013 earnings exceed $80.35m.

Patrick Kennedy, Paddy Power’s chief executive, stated that Sportsbet was “a cracking business”.

“The team has made great strides in marrying the best of both Sportsbet and Paddy Power,” he said.

“This is a good deal to acquire the remaining shares early, which will allow us to drive development and investment and secure full participation in the upside of the business.”

The England Soccer Team’s exclusive commercial interests management company, 1966 has appointed The Sports PR Company to look after all media across its clients. The partnership will also see the company responsible for all charitable work which includes the Team England Footballers Charity (TEFC).

The England squad made a decision to donate their match fees as well as dedicate their time to partners such as the Children’s Hospices UK, WellChild and the Bobby Moore Fund for Cancer Research UK. The decision saw over £1.3m (US$2m) raised for good causes.

TEFC has also launched its own ‘Outreach Programme’ that uses football to improve opportunities for disadvantaged children and young adults across the country.

The executive producer of the Delhi Commonwealth Games opening ceremony, Ric Birch does not believe India should be allowed to bid for the 2020 Olympic Games. Birch claims that his company, Spectak Productions, is owed 15 per cent of its fees concerning the opening ceremony which the organisers have allegedly refused to pay.

Mr Birch believes that the organising committee still owe millions of dollars to foreign firms involved in the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi. Spectak is just one of a number of companies still awaiting payments for the services they provided.

“Every single detail, every single word – its meaning, definition, its possible connotation – of every document and contract is being minutely examined, checked, double-checked and triple-checked to ensure that no one can be accused of a transgression,” said Birch. 

“People are scared that if they clear a bill, say, of an Australian contractor, they will be accused by the media of ‘siphoning’ money off to an Australian.

“The media have made such crazy and wild allegations that no one wants to take any chances.”

Birch believes that the longer the payments take to be made the less chance that India will have in their proposed bid to host the 2020 Olympic Games. The situation is also not helped by the severe criticism that the organising committee of the Commonwealth Games came under prior to its opening.