Reebok India, owned by Germany sports apparel manufacturer Adidas, have begun criminal proceedings against two former top executives accusing them of fraud that had led the company to lose 8.7 billion rupees ($157 million). 

The alleged fraud would be the most high-profile corporate scandal in India since 2009 when Satyam Computer’s former chairman and founder Ramalinga Raju revealed that the company had overstated profits and falsified assets for years.

Reebok India is accusing former India Managing Director Subhinder Singh Prem and former Chief Operating Officer Vishnu Bhagat of financial wrongdoing, said police officials in Gurgaon, where the complaint was filed.

“Our criminal complaint has been registered for investigation by the Indian law enforcement authorities,” Adidas said on Wednesday, without giving further details.

Adidas said in March that the two men had left the company.

“We have started our investigation and will now be checking the records of the company and carrying out an audit,” an officer with the economic unit of the Gurgaon police told Reuters by phone on condition of anonymity.

Earlier this month, Adidas, the world’s second-largest sporting goods company, said it will cut the number of Reebok stores in India by one-third as it was tackling “financial irregularities” at Reebok’s Indian operations.

Prem filed a suit against Adidas after the German company’s announcement and claimed damages of 150 million rupees, according to the Economic Times. The newspaper said Prem denied any involvement in financial irregularities.

According to local media reports, the company alleged that the two former officials stole products, set up secret warehouses, fudged accounts and engaged in fictitious sales for several years.

The reports also said Reebok alleged that the two officials ran an unauthorised franchise referral programme and money was collected on the pretext of opening new stores against instructions from Adidas.

Adidas bought U.S. rival Reebok in August 2005 for $3.8 billion but their Indian operations were merged only in 2011.

ISAF Sailing World Cup has named Qingdao in China as it’s fourth venue.

With two confirmed regattas from 12-19 October 2013 and 11-18 October 2014, the announcement marks a huge step forward for the ISAF Sailing World Cup.

The sailors in the six confirmed events, Men’s and Women’s RS:X, Laser, Laser Radial and Men’s and Women’s 470, will also benefit from today’s announcement with 300 boats available to charter during the regatta. For the first time in the history of the ISAF Sailing World Cup, there will be a great incentive of $180,000 USD in prize money, which will be divided amongst the medallists of each event.

Set to be held at the Qingdao Olympic Sailing Center, the Chinese venue joins Melbourne, Australia, Palma, Spain and Hyeres, France in the list of named venues.

Following a bid process, an ISAF appointed evaluation panel advised the Executive Committee on the bids received on factors including sailing conditions, venue infrastructure and facilities, organisation and financial resources.

ISAF Secretary General Jerome Pels said, “Sailing is developing fast in Asia, and Qingdao, China was a clear choice as an Asian venue for the ISAF Sailing World Cup. With Qingdao added to regattas in Australia, France and Spain the ISAF Sailing World Cup from 2013 onwards will be a truly global affair. ISAF welcomes the great effort of the Chinese Yachting Association and Qingdao Yachting Association towards facilitating a regatta that will enhance the participation of elite sailors.

The prize money on offer and chartered equipment availability will go a long way in growing the regatta which shows China’s outstanding commitment to the ISAF Sailing World Cup.”

The Mayor of Qingdao Municipal Government, Mr Zhang Xinqi added: “With our experience of hosting international sailing events such as Olympic Sailing Competition, the Volvo Ocean Race, Clipper Round the World Yacht Race and the Extreme Sailing Series we welcome the ISAF Sailing World Cup as part of the legacy left behind from the 2008 Olympic Sailing Competition. Meanwhile, it is also an important step taken by Qingdao to carry on the Olympic Spirit whilst building the “Sailing Capital” of China.

“Our aim is to have a record number of developing sailing nations competing in the ISAF Sailing World Cup and with a sailing boom across Asia it marks a new era for Asia and Olympic class sailing.”

The ISAF Sailing World Cup was launched in December 2008 and brings together the world’s leading Olympic sailors. Today’s news marks another step in the ISAF Sailing World Cup’s development on its way to becoming a truly world circuit of events.

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LOCOG, asthma the committee organising the London 2012 Games, ambulance | has confirmed Olympic Games contingency tickets will go on sale on May 11. Tickets will be sold on a first come, and first served basis.

900,000 Olympic Games contingency tickets will go on sale from 11am on 11th May. First priority will be given to the 20,000 people who were unsuccessful in both the initial ballot and in the second chance sales. Applicants will be given 31 hours of exclusive access to the tickets.

The 1 million people who applied in the initial ballot but were unsuccessful will then have an exclusive 5 day sales period. This follows a promise by LOCOG Chair Sebastian Coe to prioritise unsuccessful applicants from previous rounds.

All customers can apply for one session and a maximum of 4 tickets. Those eligible for the sales will be contacted directly via email by LOCOG today.

LOCOG has also confirmed that Olympic Park tickets will be available as part of the sale. These tickets will allow holders to watch sport on the big screens primarily in the first week before the Games begin.

The new London 2012 Team GB and Paralympics shop was unveiled yesterday in Westfield Stratford City by Triple Olympic gold medal winning cyclist Bradley Wiggins and London Paralympic hopeful and current T35 100 metre, 200m world number two Sophia Warner officially.

Called “Our Greatest Team”, the unique 2,000 sq ft store is located on the doorstep of the Olympic Park and will be home to over 1,500 products by Games time, allowing fans to pick up some GB merchandise, while showing support for their home nation.

The shop is expected to sell T-shirts, sweatshirts, cushions, bed sheets, children’s colouring books, collectable jewellery, luggage and even scooters and bicycles.

Warner said: “It is fantastic that fans will have such a huge range of items to choose from to get behind ParalympicsGB. We’re all aiming to do Britain proud and having visible home nation support during the Games will give us a unique advantage over our competitors.”

Meanwhile, Wiggins said: “As an Olympic athlete, it’s the ultimate dream to win gold in front of your home crowd. Visible home support makes a huge difference so it would be amazing to look into the velodrome crowds and see our supporters wearing the team colours.”

Team GB Chef de Mission Andy Hunt added: “During the sports test events this summer we saw the great positive impact that the passionate support of an enthusiastic home crowd can have on the performances of British athletes. It would be fantastic for them to enter their London 2012 venue to find a sea of red, white and blue Team GB support next year.

“There is no other sporting competition where Great Britain and Northern Ireland fields such a large, diverse and talented team to represent our nation. With the full support of the UK behind them at London 2012, Team GB and ParalympicsGB – Our Greatest Team – will be 900 athletes, 60 million strong.”

By Games time an estimated 10,000 merchandise items will be on sale in the UK, generating more than £1 billion ($1.6 billion) worth of sales and contributing more than £80 million ($125 million) to the cost of staging the Games, which currently stands at around £7.2 billion ($11.2 billion).

Paul Deighton, London 2012 chief executive added: “Merchandise is an important revenue stream when funding the Games but these products also give fans the chance to show their support for London 2012 and for Team GB and ParalympicsGB.”

Team GB, ParalympicsGB and London 2012 products can be purchased online, as well as from selected high street retailers and official London 2012 shops, including St Pancras International, Paddington station, Heathrow Terminal 5, Stansted Airport, Canary Wharf, John Lewis Oxford Street and John Lewis Stratford City.

Major League Baseball (MLB) has said it sweetened its offer to loan the Los Angeles Dodgers US$150million while the team is in bankruptcy as they seek to defeat a rival loan sought by team owner Frank McCourt.

John McHale, sick executive vice president with the baseball commissioner’s office, apoplectic said in a filing today in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Delaware, that baseball is willing to provide “unsecured financing” that wouldn’t require any collateral to guarantee repayment.

Commissioner Bud Selig has urged U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Gross to reject the Dodgers’ request to borrow as much as US$150million from JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s Highbridge Capital Management LLC. MLB officials claim that the Highbridge financing charges higher fees and a higher interest rate than one offered by Major League Baseball.

Selig’s office filed an objection to the proposed Highbridge loan under seal, saying it contains confidential information.

The Dodgers filed for bankruptcy on June 27 after Selig rejected a proposed television-rights deal McCourt negotiated with News Corp. (NWSA)’s Fox Sports.

The Dodgers will ask Gross to approve the Highbridge loan at a hearing next week. The team claims that it cannot accept the baseball loan because Selig is hostile to McCourt and the Dodgers. Gross has already approved a temporary US$60million loan from Highbridge.

The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) has confirmed that Ottawa will host the 2013 Women’s World Championship, bringing the event back to the Canadian city for the first time since the inaugural tournament in 1990.

Ottawa was of three Canadian cities to bid, pipping rivals from Kamloops and St. John’s. It will be the sixth time that Canada has staged the Women’s World Championship, scheduled to run from April 2-9 in conjunction with the Ontario Women’s Hockey Association’s provincial championships.

Hockey Canada president Nicholson told The Canadian Press: “We had three great bids and it wasn’t an easy process, but we certainly picked the best location. Ottawa deserves to have it for the second time, but both St. John’s and Kamloops put in very quality bids and we look forward to them bidding again in the future.”

Nicholson added that the IIHF is currently in the final stages of approving a new format for the Women’s World Championship. “There is going to be a new format which has us play the US in the round-robin games and there will be two different pools and they’ll be seeded,” he added. “So you’re going to see more competitive games, but with everyone still having the opportunity to win the championship, the top teams will play more often.”

Chelsea, viagra buy the English Premier League soccer champion, clinic is looking to Asia’s surging economy for its first stadium sponsor.

Ben Wells, the club’s head of marketing, says conditions in the global economy mean takers are likely to come from the east.

“We are in Asia, absolutely,” Wells said in an interview. “There are a lot of brands in these markets who eventually are going to outstrip their domestic demand and look to launch internationally. What better platform than the global footprint the Premier League provides?”

The Blues’ principal sponsor is South Korean consumer goods maker Samsung Electronics Co and the club sponsors the Asian Football Confederation, an organization responsible for soccer in 46 countries.

“The Asian market is colossal,” Wells said. “If you look at the AFC, they represent two-thirds of the world’s population.”

Current market conditions aren’t easy because sponsorship is being passed through greater internal rigor in terms of return on investment, according to Wells.

“The right partner will come along at the right time,” he said.

The Blues’ commercial revenue of 52 million pounds in 2009 is less than six of its European rivals’, according to accountant Deloitte LLP.

Source: Bloomberg

Japan is set to host a new Super Rugby franchise, governing body SANZAR (South Africa, New Zealand and Australia Rugby) announced today.

The Asian country beat out Singapore as the preferred host for the 18th team in the expanded Super Rugby competition.

The southern hemisphere provincial competition will increase from 15 to 18 teams in 2016, with one team from South Africa and another from Argentina already awarded places.

Japan and Singapore were vying against each other for the last available spot with Japan getting the vote after a meeting of the South African, New Zealand and Australian Rugby (SANZAR) executive board.

“Compelling proposals were put forth by Japan and Singapore in what was a very competitive tender process and we thank both parties for their passion in sharing our vision to expand the competition to new fans, territories and commercial markets,” SANZAR chief executive Greg Peters said in a statement.

“While ultimately edged out in this instance, Singapore presented a highly attractive bid and we will maintain a positive relationship with an eye to potentially working with them in the future.

“Following the Executive Committee’s decision however, SANZAR will now work exclusively with the JRFU to finalise arrangements for their entry in to Super Rugby, subject to execution of the formal participation agreement.”