USA Cycling and the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) have announced the official formalisation of the RaceClean agreement which expands the parameters of drug testing in the discipline.

Although the USADA will continue to independently conduct anti-doping, allergy the RaceClean program increases levels of drug testing across competition levels and in- and out-of-competition. In the first half of 2013 alone RaceClean has seen 100 tests at 10 USA Cycling calendar events, and it is expected that testing will occur in the majority of the year’s remaining events.

RaceClean also devotes funds to education and grassroots testing in addition to allowing both members and non-members of USA Cycling to donate to the “RaceClean Fund”.

Of the program’s formalization USA Cycling President & CEO, Steve Johnson, said: “As the program evolved from conceptual to experimental to contractual, both USA Cycling and USADA wanted to make sure we accurately captured the scope and intent of the program in the final agreement. As is often the case, this was a little more involved than anticipated as it ultimately required significant changes in our rider waivers and event contracts.”

The National Hockey League has confirmed the 2014 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic will be played at 1 p.m. ET on New Year’s Day at The Big House on the campus of University of Michigan between the Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs.

In addition, Bettman said Comerica Park in downtown Detroit will be converted into a rink for the SiriusXM Hockeytown Winter Festival. 

The NHL anticipates setting a world record for attendance at a hockey game as upwards of 110,000 people are expected to pack The Big House on the campus of the University of Michigan for the Winter Classic game. An estimated 250,000 are expected to descend on downtown Detroit for the Hockeytown Winter Festival. 

“We’ve been excited about going to The Big House, and we’re glad that the plans are falling into place to do everything we originally planned to do and more,” NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said.

The Red Wings and Maple Leafs were originally scheduled to play at The Big House on Jan. 1, 2013, but the event was cancelled because of the lockout. 

The same plans are in place for the 2014 event, with the possibility of the NHL considering doing more with the added time to plan. 

“In terms of the ancillary events, I think we have the ability to do more and do some better planning,” Commissioner Bettman said. “We want to make sure that this event is as strong and as solid and as big as it can be. Everything we’re doing is in pursuit of that.” 

The marquee event before the actual Winter Classic game will be the 2014 Red Wings vs. Maple Leafs Alumni Showdown on New Year’s Eve. 

Nearly 100 alumni from both teams have asked to participate, requiring the NHL, the Red Wings and the Maple Leafs to plan for two alumni games at Comerica Park on New Year’s Eve. 

The NHL first showcased the Winter Classic alumni game in 2011 with Mario Lemieux and thePittsburgh Penguins. 

“People like to have a reason to come together and celebrate,” Leafs alumni Darryl Sittler told NHL.com. “The game is an event, but there is so many other things surrounding it. You talk about the alumni and I really look forward to getting back on the ice with Lanny [MacDonald] and Tiger [Williams]. In Detroit, they’ve had huge success over the last number of years and they’re going to have a little bit younger of an alumni team than us. But the fact that they’re having two games and every player who is an alumni of these two teams gets a chance to be a part of it, that tells you a lot about it.” 

The Winter Festival will also feature games of all levels of hockey (American Hockey League, Ontario Hockey League, NCAA, high school and youth) being played on the temporary rink built atop the infield at Comerica Park from mid-December into the new year. 

“Usually you just think of the Winter Classic as a game and an unreal game, but what Mr. and Mrs. Ilitch have done downtown is they have turned this into an event,” Red Wings alum Kris Drapersaid. “It’s going to be special. It’s going to be a great time around the city of Detroit.”

Sports apparel company, Under Armour is suing Nike, alleging that its chief competitor is illegally using a version of the company’s new primary slogan, “I Will.”

The suit, which the company said it filed Thursday afternoon in U.S. District Court in Baltimore, seeks to force Nike to stop using any form of that phrase and asks for unspecified punitive damages for trademark infringement and unfair competition.

According to a copy of the suit provided by Under Armour, the complaint shows several instances of ads Nike placed on social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter beginning late last year using slogans that all begin with “I will.” Text running over the arm of a basketball player dunking a ball reads, “I will finish what I started.” Runners can be seen standing at the starting line in another ad behind the words “I will sweat while they sleep.”

Lawyers for Under Armour also accuse Nike of trying to cause consumer confusion by using language that approximates the iconic “Protect this house” campaign that helped propel founder Kevin Plank’s company into the mainstream. Another basketball ad reads, “I will protect my home court.”

In a statement, Under Armour said: “The I WILL trademark is one of the cornerstone symbols of our company and its products and services, and has been for many years. We have initiated a lawsuit against Nike, Inc. based on its infringement of Under Armour’s federally registered I WILL trademark. We prefer to battle our competitors in the marketplace and on the field of play with our game-changing innovative products, but we will defend ourselves whenever necessary to protect what we’ve worked so hard to build. We will not allow a competitor to blatantly infringe upon our established trademark rights.”

Under Armour said that its rights to “I Will” date back to 1998 and that it has used the slogan in connection with hundreds of products, in TV commercials and on billboards. It called the phrase “a centerpiece of its brand identity” in the lawsuit. The first “I Will” trademark dates to 2000, and Under Armour filed for multiple trademarks on the phrase last May.

Both these properties are no strangers to meeting in the court room after Nike, in 2003, sued Under Armour, alleging that its moisture-wicking apparel infringed on Nike’s trademarked Dri-Fit style of clothing. The lawsuit also claimed Under Armour had registered several website URLs with various spellings of “Dri-Fit” and had them all redirect to the Under Armour website. A federal judge threw out the case.

Nike has reported a fall in new orders in China, and said it would alter its strategy in the country as investor concern over its performance sent its shares down

The company said that new orders from its greater China region, including Taiwan and Hong Kong, were 5 percent below last year’s level.

Nike Brand President, Charlie Denson, said “This is a natural evolution that we’ve seen in many markets, so it’s not a surprise. What is a surprise, like everything in China, is how fast it got here.”

Nike shares initially fell more than 4 percent after market trading, but later recovered slightly to be down 3.2 percent at US$92.90. {jcomments on}

The Japan Professional Baseball Players Association has decided to boycott  the 2013 World Baseball Classic.

All 24 player representatives voted against participating in the tournament.

Last year, store the union requested a bigger cut of tournament revenue and merchandising and sponsorship rights for the Japan national team. The request, ask which at the time was supported by Nippon Professional Baseball, was rejected.

World Baseball Classic officials still expect Japan to compete.{jcomments on}

Detroit Pistons guard, Ben Gordon is at the centre of controversy as he won’t play for Britain in this year’s EuroBasket finals in preparation for the Olympics in 2012 because he couldnt reach an agreement on insurance with the national team.

Their failure to achieve a deal followed complications linked to the current National Basketball Association lockout, British Basketball said in an e-mailed statement.

For a agreement to be had the National team would have to pay 40 percent of insurance fees for Gordon, performative director for British Basketball, Chris Spice explained. The insurance agreement between the NBA and the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) doesn’t cover lockout periods.

“We have done our best to provide a cover that is close to what we would have had in a normal season, but in the end things didn’t work out from a financial or scope-of-cover perspective,” Spice said today in the statement. The team is still hoping to make an arrangement with Gordon in time for next year’s Olympics, according to the statement.

Britain got insurance last week for the EuroBasket games with 26-year-old Chicago Bulls star forward Luol Deng.

“You don’t get much change from 100,000 pounds ($164,000),” Spice said yesterday of Deng’s arrangement, following a warm-up game in Cobham, outside London, where Britain beat the Netherlands 96-70. British Basketball didn’t have an estimate of what it would cost to insure Gordon.

Gordon, a 28-year-old London native, was named the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year, denoting the best substitute player, as a rookie with the Bulls. He hasn’t played internationally for Britain.

NBA Owners have been in a lockout since July 1.

The European Women’s Boxing Championships in Rotterdam can go ahead as planned after the International Boxing Association (AIBA) lifted its provisional suspension of the Dutch Boxing Association (DBA).

The suspension of the DBA was sanctioned on 23rd February over “irregularities and rule violations related to the organization of the so-called Final Four tournament last year”. 

Following the suspension order, the European Boxing Confederation had on the same day issued fresh tenders to find another host city for the European Women Championships.  

Despite announcing that the suspension had been lifted, the AIBA disciplinary commission slapped a fine of around US$2,180, plus a further $1,090 in costs on the DBA.

The case pertained to the “Final Four” competition that the DBA had organised last year – on 3 April 2010 – involving amateur, professional and kick boxers, without the use of headguards or vests and in spite of a warning from AIBA.

According to a statement issued by AIBA: “The DBA wrote directly to Aiba on February 24, 2011 to explain that the “Final Four” was organized as a pilot event and that the DBA was not aware of any warning from AIBA. The DBA believed that the initiative was in line with the developments within AIBA, based on the existence of the World Series of Boxing. The DBA board admitted in the letter that they had made a major mistake in their judgments.

“In correspondences between the Dutch Olympic Committee and AIBA’s president CK Wu, the Olympic Committee explained the problems regarding the recent history of the DBA, which had led it to intervene and install a new board, consisting of newcomers to the world of sport. The warning regarding the “Final Four” had been sent to the previous DBA president, who had only shared the information with selected persons. The Board was therefore unaware of the warning. On behalf of the Dutch boxing family, the National Olympic Committee apologized for the trouble caused. AIBA has also asked the president of the Dutch Olympic Committee to meet with the AIBA president to discuss the situation of boxing in the Netherlands and in particular the Dutch Boxing Association’s situation.”

The statement concludes, “In a submission of March 7, 2011 the DBA fully recognized that ‘it has committed a serious violation of the Aiba technical & competition rules and ethics code’. Measures have since been taken to ensure that such problems will not occur in future and the DBA is preparing a statement for its website, in Dutch and English, to report the mistake made and state its apologies to Aiba and the world of boxing.”

After the success of last year’s ‘free racing week’, Racing for Change has linked up with Lovetheraces.com and 25 of Britain’s racecourses to give the public the chance to watch horseracing free of charge for the entire month of April.

The initiative which lasted for 7 days in 2010 attracted an additional 40,000 visitors to the races and has been extended to a whole month this year. Some of Britain’s most famous racecourses are involved, including Ascot, Epsom Downs, Newbury, Newmarket and Sandown Park.

Seventeen fixtures are entirely free in at least one major enclosure at each racecourse, while there are a total of 5,500 free tickets available in advance at a further 11 meetings, although these are expected to be snapped up quickly.

Racing for Change chief executive Rod Street stated: “This groundbreaking move in April is being organised in a bid to attract record numbers of new customers to the fun and exciting sport of horse racing. It’s also a great way to reward existing fans of the sport.”

Street added: “The aim of the month is to appeal to people who have been infrequent visitors to horseracing in the past or who have never been to a racecourse. At many of the meetings, there will be staff, literature and displays to explain more about the sport.”

US President Barack Obama is set to offer a new financing deal that will allow United States companies more opportunity to get involved in preparations for the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 Olympics and Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, when he visits Brazil next month.

The financing scheme, which would be worth in excess of hundreds of millions of dollars annually, has been under discussion between the two Governments for several months now and is set to be formally announced when Obama travels to Brazil on March 19 and 20.

Obama was closely linked with Chicago’s bid to host the 2016 Olympics, even turning up for the final vote at the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Session at Copenhagen in October 2009, where Rio were awarded the Games.

The vehicle for the financing will be the Export-Import Bank of the United States, or Ex-Im Bank, which has seen its role expand dramatically in the last two years as the Obama administration looks for business opportunities abroad.

According to the company’s Chairman, Fred P. Hochberg, Ex-Im Bank seeks to make an unspecified amount of funding available for US-based companies and US subsidiaries of multinationals to help build roads and other infrastructure projects in Brazil.

It is difficult for foreign companies to earn major building contracts in Brazil unless they partner with a company already established there.

Hochberg told Reuters: “Brazil is a place where we see major promise, a lot of potential for cooperation.

“Investment in infrastructure (in emerging markets) is growing at a level we’ve never seen before.”

Funds for joint US-Brazilian projects in other countries would be provided through a “co-financing” deal between Ex-Im Bank and Brazil’s state-run development bank, BNDES. 

Such arrangements provide a “one-stop shop” with one set of documents and financing conditions for joint ventures.

Ex-Im Bank last year authorised a record high US$24.5bn in loans, guarantees and insurance worldwide.

Major League Soccer (MLS) commissioner Don Garber revealed yesterday, February 15, that newcomers to the league and second Canadian representative, the Vancouver Whitecaps are leading the way in terms of sponsorship revenue ahead of the 2011 season.

According to the Vancouver Sun, Garber stated: “The total value of Whitecaps sponsorships signed so far outpaces every other franchise in the league – even New York and Los Angeles.”

Garber added: “Even with Los Angeles and its stadium and David Beckham, the largest sponsorship base is here in Vancouver.” This is down, in the main part, to major tie-ups of recent times including signing a lucrative jersey sponsorship deal with Bell last summer and since adding deals with BMO, EA Sports and Labatt.

Garber stated that the Bell sponsorship is “one of the richest sports sponsorship deals in North America,” noting that the deal “doesn’t involve television advertising or other media – just a pure rights fee.”

 

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Paul Barber – Chief Executive Officer, Vancouver Whitecaps FC is a member of iSportconnect