Formula 1’s governing body, FIA have revealed there are searching for a 12th team for the 2015 or 2016 season and until at least 2020.

In a statement on Wednesday night, FIA said it was opening a new selection process to identify a “candidate team to participate at a competitive level” in Formula One.

There are 11 teams on the circuit while F1 rules allow for up to 13.

“The overall long-term interests of the championship will determine which candidates are selected,” read the statement.

Candidates must formally express their interest to FIA by January 3.

Formula One last accepted three new teams for the 2010 season. HRT had to shut down last season due to financial problems, while Marussia and Caterham have not collected a single world championship point in 77 races.

F1 officials hope to attract a team from the United States. The USF1 project shut down just before the 2010 season.

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The All India Tennis Association (AITA) has attempted to resolve its dispute with eight Indian players, canada buy led by Somdev Devvarman, by agreeing to most of their demands.

A player boycott of the Davis Cup Asia/ Oceania Group I tie against South Korea was threatened if their demands were not met.

“They had asked for change in positions of SP Misra, Nandan Bal, Dr Vece Paes (team doctor) and Sanjay Singhas (physiotherapist). Misra will stay for the Korea tie but Zeeshan Ali will be the Davis Cup coach in 2013. The Executive Committee has decided to approach the Sports Authority of India for a well-qualified doctor and physiotherapist,” an AITA statement said.

AITA said the players’ suggestions were welcome but the association would have the final say.

The AITA admitted it had received a letter from Misra expressing his desire to discontinue..

The players demanded an improved share of prize money. The AITA currently receives 50 percent of the prize money while the players are given the remaining 50 percent. The AITA said, “The AITA Executive Committee has decided that for Asia/ Oceania Group II, it will be 50:50. For Group I, 60 percent to players and 40 to AITA. And if they win an Asia/Oceania Zonal tie (Group I), it will be 70 percent for the players.”

For World Group ties, it will be 70 percent to the players and 30 to the AITA. For away ties, it will be the old arrangement of 100 percent to the players”.

The players had also asked for a say in choosing venues, the AITA said they would consider weather conditions before arranging fixtures and suggestions on the surface and conditions would be taken from the captain.

The players have not yet responded. The team for the Korea tie is scheduled to be picked on January 11.{jcomments on}

A new survey by British Cycling today found that cycling participation amongst people with a disability has increased by over 20%.

The survey, arthritis which focused on the inclusivity and accessibility of cycling, search found that over 200, capsule 000 people with a long term limiting disability cycle once a week. Cycling is one of the most accessible sports in the country and British Cycling wants to lead developments ensuring that participation continues to grow.

Stewart Kellett, British Cycling’s Director of Recreation and Partnerships, said:

“British Cycling offers countless opportunities across the country for everybody to get involved in cycling – from large scale one-off events to weekly local led-rides, Go-Ride clubs for under 16s, competitive events, as well as courses and training.

“However, there is always more that can be done to improve opportunities and the experience for people with a disability who want to get into cycling. That’s what our survey is aiming to do.”

British Cycling’s survey gives people the opportunity to comment on how cycling’s accessibility can be improved.

Team Korea will take part in the 2013 Louis Vuitton Cup, the elimination series for America’s Cup challengers, having paid its entry fee.

The team will be the first from Korea to compete for the America’s Cup.

Team Korea’s fellow competitors are Emirates Team New Zealand, Italy’s Luna Rossa Challenge and Sweden’s Artemis Racing.

Competitors recently voted to extend the entry deadline for challengers to August 1.

The winner of the Louis Vuitton Cup, scheduled for July 4 to September 1, 2013, will face San Francisco’s Oracle Racing at San Francisco Bay in the 34th America’s Cup.

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Nan and Xie are the highest-ranking officials to be sentenced since China began a nationwide campaign in March 2009 to root out graft in local soccer. They told the courts they need to consult with their respective attorneys before deciding whether to appeal the verdicts, Xinhua said.

Kent Cricket has selected Lindley Venue Catering, prostate the specialist sports stadia catering division of The Lindley Group, as its partner to develop match day catering, and conference, banqueting, and events business at the Club’s sports facilities in Kent.

The five year contract with Kent Cricket comes within weeks of Lindley being signed up by Gloucestershire CCC, and Essex CCC extending its existing contract with Lindley for the 2012 season.

As well as being brought on board to manage and develop all of the match day catering at Kent Cricket’s main St Lawrence ground in Canterbury, the company will also operate matches at the Club’s County Ground in Beckenham and The Nevill Ground at Tunbridge Wells. Lindley Venue Catering has been recruited for its expertise in growing revenue and business from non-match day events at professional sports venues.

Lindley Venue Catering will be employing a dedicated sales coordinator who will be based at the St Lawrence Ground, and is also investing £40,000 to develop on-site food retail offer and extend the catering facilities in the Club Members’ area. The caterer is also planning to introduce bespoke catering to match the different requirements of visitors attending County and Clydesdale Bank 40 matches, and Friends Life T20 games.

The Lindley Venue Catering team will take control of catering and events for Kent Cricket, working in partnership with the Club’s in-house catering and events management team, which until now has been solely responsible for managing the match day and non-match day hospitality services.

Jamie Clifford, Kent Cricket CEO commented: “We have ambitious plans to increase the use of the Club’s facilities in general, and St Lawrence Ground, Canterbury, in particular, where we have recently undertaken an extensive refurbishment programme which has included the creation of state-of-the art conference and banqueting suites.

“Our in-house catering and events team has done a fantastic job in establishing a great reputation for the quality of the Club’s catering and hospitality, and it’s because of their success that we have reached the stage where we now need to increase the resource to manage the incremental business which they are generating.

“We looked at the options of either expanding our in-house team or looking externally for the right partner to join forces with us on our venture to grow our business. Having met with Lindley Venue Catering, we opted for the latter as they meet all the Club’s requirements, and they have the capability and skill-set which will enable us to fast-track the next phase of our business expansion plans.

“With their extensive experience in sports stadia catering they have some great ideas for enhancing match day catering for both public and corporate hospitality entertaining, and the icing on the cake is their proven expertise in developing non-match day business at other sports venues.

“Just as importantly, we share a common business culture. The level of investment Lindley is making in the Club’s facilities and marketing support demonstrates their commitment to the Club, and, from a commercial perspective, the annual minimum level of income they have guaranteed from catering will give a substantial boost to the Club’s revenue”

Adam Elliott, CEO of The Lindley Group, added: “Kent Cricket has made great strides forward in putting the St Lawrence Ground, Canterbury, on the conference, banqueting and events map. The ground is one of the premier county grounds in the country and it occupies a fabulous setting in the heart of Canterbury. These inherent natural assets have been enhanced by an excellently executed refurbishment and the development of a new website to promote the new facilities, so the Club has already laid a strong foundation for us to build on.

“Having worked with other sporting venues on optimising their websites, we have achieved increases of up to 20% in conference and banqueting sales, so we know the results which we can achieve. We also aim to maximise revenue from match day catering by fine tuning the food offering for different types of event.

“County games spanning four days clearly have a longer dwell time, attract an older audience and require a different catering approach to one day twenty20 games which bring in a younger demographic. So, for example, we will be installing our Frank’s Original New York Streetdogs® branded retail offer at the ground to cater for this younger audience during one day matches.

“The Club and Lindley are jointly committed to achieving the common goals of delivering a platinum standard of public and hospitality catering on match days, and making the St Lawrence ground a prime destination for conference and event organisers and private functions. It is the partnership approach and the drive and enthusiasm shared by both parties which has given us the confidence to commit to guarantee Kent Cricket a substantial minimum income from our management of the catering and events business.”

National Football League (NFL) players have created an online website to simplify licensing, cough including use of their images and autographs.

The Playmark website, scheduled to launch today, is the first of its kind in a major U.S. sport to allow software developers and T-shirt makers to go through an online process to secure the likenesses and marks of more than 2,000 players, said Keith Gordon, president of NFL Players Inc., the licensing arm of the NFL Players Association. NFL Players Inc. licensing totaled $78 million last year.

Gordon said: “We really wanted to make the licensing process streamlined and accessible for people no matter what your resources are. This space is really ripe for something that demystifies intellectual property rights and licensing.”

Seattle-based Playmark Inc. operates the clearinghouse as the exclusive broker for the players, Gordon said. Product or software developers can submit proposals online to purchase the rights to images, signatures or even three-dimensional likenesses.

Pricing is based on higher upfront fees yielding lower royalty payments, Gordon said. The website then allows developers to submit their finished work for approval by NFL Players Inc., which should take days instead of weeks. The simplified system may help cut down on illicit use of the marks.

“Nothing happens without our approval,” Gordon said. “We have complete control over who has access and once they have access, nothing gets released without our approval.”

By making it easier for emerging or existing businesses to obtain licensing, Gordon said he hopes to spur growth in products that use NFL players. The website doesn’t cover retired players.

The new system also will help players who aren’t among the league’s most-popular to earn more licensing money, by allowing makers room to develop products aimed at smaller niches, Gordon said.

He added: “We just really wanted to create something where we could tap into the creativity, enthusiasm and inspiration of the young entrepreneurs out there with great products, who don’t necessarily know how to leverage the assets available to them.”

Los Angeles Dodgers bankruptcy claims have take a turn for the worse as the season-ticket holders, including the singer Frank Sinatra’s three children will seek an official committee to represent their interests in court during the team’s bankruptcy.

The Sinatra’s and the other season ticket-holders who plan to participate in the case will seek to have their legal fees paid by the Dodgers through the appointment of a court-approved committee.

“We feel the season-ticket holders are the true stakeholders in the bankruptcy case and currently have no voice in the case,” Robbin L. Itkin, an attorney for five season ticket holders, said in an e-mail today. Her clients, including the Sinatras, represent “the interests of the public who have supported the Dodgers franchise for years.”

Frank Sinatra Jr., Tina Sinatra and Nancy Sinatra hold eight seats their father bought in 1958 when the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles from Brooklyn New York, where the iconic 1950s singer and actor became a fan, family attorney Jeffrey Berkowitz said in an interview.

“They are long-time Dodgers fans,” Berkowitz said. Their seats are behind the first base dugout in the first and second rows, he said. The original chairs where Sinatra sat were preserved and moved to the team offices after the stadium was remodeled, Berkowitz said.

The Dodgers filed for bankruptcy in June after almost two years of falling attendance and a decline in merchandise sales.

Following an Ontario court ruling backing Labatt’s claims that the National Hockey League (NHL) had reneged on a deal with its former sponsor, Molson Coors Canada and the league have both pledged to appeal the decision which could jeopardise a record sponsorship deal between the two parties.

The Denver-based brewer confirmed that it saw the ruling made late last week as a ‘surprise’ but insisted it is still committed to the seven-year deal agreed in February, thought to be worth close to US$400m.

Molson Coors president and CEO Dave Perkson said the company was disappointed with Judge Frank Newbould’s ruling “given we entered into negotiations with the NHL in good faith”.

Perkson’s statement, released yesterday, June 6, added: “While Friday’s ruling was an unfortunate surprise, we remain committed to doing all we can to keep this sponsorship agreement in place with the NHL.” Perkson said the NHL’s commitment to ice hockey “remains unwavering regardless of the outcome of this situation”.

NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly also claimed that the League disagreed with the court’s decision and pledged to “pursue an appeal of the ruling on an expedited basis”.