British Olympic Association chief Sebastian Coe has pulled out of the race to become the next chairman of the BBC Trust to focus on his impending bid to become International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) president.

The London 2012 head, who is also chairman of CSM Sports & Entertainment, was reportedly the government’s preferred candidate for the role but told the Daily Mail he did not have the “capacity” for the job.

The 1980 and 1984 1500-metre Olympic champion said: “I did allow my name to go forward to give myself time to properly analyse whether I had enough time to do the job to the best of my abilities.

“On reflection, I haven’t the capacity and I now want to concentrate on my current commitments and the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) election. As everyone knows, athletics is in my DNA.”

Coe is competing against fellow IAAF vice-president Sergey Bubka to succeed Lamine Diack, who will step down from the IAAF presidency in 2015 having been elected to the position in 1999.

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Infront France will operate as official Sales Agent for Commercial Hospitality of the ATP World Tour Finals 2014.

The subsidiary of the international sports marketing company Infront Sports & Media takes over the marketing role in the country on behalf of MATCH Hospitality AG – which handles the Corporate Hospitality programme for this event on a global level.

The Barclays ATP World Tour Finals are the annual culmination of the tennis season, shop featuring the world’s best eight singles players and doubles teams of the Emirates ATP ranking. The 2014 edition will take place from 9 to 16 November at the 02 Arena in London.

Infront offers three VIP hospitality package types (Match Private Suite, discount Match Business Seat & Match Club), which feature the arena’s best seats in the lower bowl and private suites.

The role for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in France aligns with Infront’s strategy to strengthen the French subsidiary’s positioning and portfolio in national hospitality sales. Infront France already acts as Official Hospitality Agent for Stade de France until 2015 and as Official Hospitality Agent for the 2015 Rugby World Cup on French territory.

PGA Tour superstar Tiger Woods and his company, diagnosis Tiger Woods Design, nurse will design the 18-hole golf course at Bluejack National, a private club and community currently under development in Montgomery, Texas, near Houston.

Construction of the golf course is expected to begin during the summer of 2014 with completion slated for the fall of 2015. Bluejack National is scheduled to be the first golf course designed by Tiger Woods to open in the U.S.

Formerly the home of Blaketree National Golf Club, Bluejack National is set among 755 acres of gently rolling and beautifully wooded countryside dotted with natural lakes and streams. The original golf course was popular with Houston-area players; however, Bluejack National’s developers believe a completely new design is required to make the best use of the area’s spectacular terrain and natural view corridors. Tiger Woods, the world’s number-one-ranked player and winner of 14 major golf championships, was selected to design the new course following numerous conversations and site visits with Beacon Land Development.

“I’ve known Michael Abbott and other members of Beacon Land Development for many years. I have tremendous respect for their ability and their commitment to excellence, and I am proud to be a part of Bluejack National,” said Woods. “Bluejack National has one of the best natural settings for golf I have seen. With its changes in elevation, the beautiful pines and hardwoods, Bluejack National is reminiscent of the pinelands of Georgia and the Carolinas. The opportunity is here to create a golf course unlike any other in the Houston area, and our goal is for it to be among the best in the nation.”

“We are thrilled to have Tiger working with us to develop the golf course for Bluejack National,” said Michael Abbott, Partner, Beacon Land Development. “He spent a lot of time getting to know the property and understanding its potential. Throughout the process it became clear that his vision for the golf course perfectly aligned with ours, and he shared our passion for bringing it to life.”

Beacon Land Development is in partnership with Lantern Asset Management, a Dallas-based firm with a strong track record and experience in luxury resort and mixed use residential communities. “I’m proud to be partnering with industry leaders such as Tiger Woods Design and Beacon Land Development to create something truly special on an exceptional piece of land,” said Andy Mitchell, President, Lantern Asset Management. “When you witness the passion this team brings to the creative process, it generates tremendous enthusiasm for the development of Bluejack National, and for the lifestyle it will provide to its future members and residents.”

NFL quarterback Andrew Luck has joined the Sports Advisory Board for MC10, clinic a venture-backed Cambridge, arthritis Mass company.

The two-time Heisman finalist and 2012 No. 1 overall draft pick will join Colts teammate and NFL quarterback, Matt Hasselbeck, along with seven other accomplished athletes and experts, to develop innovative solutions that optimize athletic performance while minimizing the risk of injury.

”MC10 brings state-of-the-art monitoring technology to athletes of all ages and abilities, and that’s a mission I fully support,” noted Andrew Luck. “As a professional athlete, I have access to world-class performance monitoring equipment and a wealth of personal performance data, but most people don’t. This is precisely what MC10 is doing by creating affordable, second-skin sensors for every athlete, and I am excited to work with the company and its Sports Advisory Board to develop game changing technology solutions.”

MC10’s sports systems give athletes the enhanced sensing they need to get an advance warning before facing the risk of injury. Ultra-thin, skin-mounted sensors provide real-time, personalized biofeedback on hydration, heart rate, muscle activity, motion and other indicators of athletic performance. The company’s first commercial product, the CHECKLIGHT, is an impact indicator designed to measure significant impacts to the head in real-time during contact sports.

“MC10’s approach has always been to work side by side with experts to develop disruptive products that solve important problems and change the way we think about electronics and their interaction with the human body,” says MC10 CEO David Icke, who like Luck, is a proud Stanford alumnus. “Andrew is a perfect fit with MC10. Not only is he one of the best quarterbacks in the league, but he’s also an incredibly bright guy with a keen eye towards design. He wants to put his degree to work, and we’re excited to partner with him to bring the best innovations to athletes at every level.”

The International Cycling Union (UCI) have confirmed they have been in talks with Omega Pharma-QuickStep owner Zdenek Bakala and his business partner Bessel Kok since late 2011 about the possible development of the professional road cycling calendar. 

World Series Cycling claims eight teams are contracted to the series, which would run alongside the three Grand Tours – of Italy, France and Spain.

In a statement the Cycling’s governing body said: “These discussions have included their potential financial investment in a new joint venture company with the UCI and other cycling stakeholders that would promote and organise elements of this new calendar. The UCI has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with them as the initial investors in the joint venture and will now enter into extensive dialogue with the teams and race organisers before any final agreement is concluded.

“The possible development of the professional road cycling calendar will be subject to comments from the wide-ranging consultation “A bright future for cycling” that will involve all the stakeholders in the sport and which will take place in the first quarter of 2013. This consultation will have a considerable bearing on this proposed joint venture and the future road cycling calendar.”

“No agreement has been reached on the reforms that will take place to the calendar and as such any media reports about the future of the calendar are pure speculation at this stage. However, the UCI will retain full control over the calendar, including sporting and technical elements. The UCI and the investors are also committed to ensuring that the final structure of the joint venture will avoid conflicts of interest.”

Tom Touber, help Chief Operating Officer of the Volvo Ocean Race (VOC) has revealed the series must construct high performance boats following an excess of boats being damaged last year.

The 2011-2012 edition of the Volvo Ocean Race (VOC) was plagued by constant incidences of boats suffering damage during their sail across the world’s oceans, see but Touber believes that the boats should be high performance, rather than indestructible.

Speaking to iSportconnect, he said: “It’s important to note that we’re not building a boat that’s unbreakable.

“We are building a high performance boat and it will be the responsibility of the skipper and the crew to get the best out of the boat.

“But what should not happen is for breakages to be caused by teams really pushing the materials too far during the construction of the boat.

“We are pushing the limit, but we are not going over the limit like some of the teams did in previous races.”

For Touber, his biggest challenge lies in the shift in format of the race, towards a one-design fleet, but can take comfort in the fact that the alteration is reminiscent of past campaigns.

He added: “For me there are a lot of similarities with the ABN AMRO campaign, the two-boat campaign we ran in 2005-2006, also having a new boat, because it was the first time the Volvo Open 70 was introduced. It looks and feels a lot like that.

“The biggest thing now is how do we get it all organised, so that we have the boat ready in time and also the support side to cover it. We want the whole maintenance side of the boat put in place at the highest standard possible.”