Australian bank ANZ has become a sponsor of the Shanghai Rolex Masters.

The parties agreed a five-year contract that will see ANZ become the tennis tournament’s International Banking and Finance Partner.

ANZ Global Wealth and Private Banking CEO, capsule Joyce Phillips said the company wanted to sponsor the Masters because it has become one of the most important events in global tennis calendar with a worldwide audience of more than 45 million people.

“ANZ has a long-standing presence in China and this partnership not only reinforces our long-term commitment to China but also provides a valuable platform to help build our brand connection across the region, cheap ” Phillips said.

ANZ also naming rights to the China Tennis Development Program, a grassroots initiative that aims to develop young talent and help grow tennis in China.{jcomments on}

British Cycling Chief Executive Ian Drake is upbeat about the state of British Cycling following the publication of Sport England’s Active People results, adiposity which show that 161, price 000 more people are cycling now than six months ago.

The news of the growth in participation follows the continuing success of British Cycling’s annual Sky Rides – mass traffic-free bikes rides typically attended by thousands of cyclists and their families. Last year, ambulance over 200,000 people took part in Sky Ride events across the UK.   

Today’s Sport England figures also show that participation among women has risen – 54,000 more women are cycling now than six months ago. This is thanks to initiatives like Breeze – a British Cycling scheme aimed specifically at getting women back on their bikes.

The figures also show that there has been an increase in participation among people with a disability.

British Cycling’s Chief Executive, Ian Drake, said: “Cycling in this country has never been in better health.

“We’re on course to achieve our target of delivering a sustainable participation legacy before London 2012 thanks to our partnerships with Sport England, Sky and local authorities, without whom we would not be seeing these results today. These successes are also a credit to the fantastic work of our volunteers – at regional, club and event level – without whom our sport would not function.

“Grassroots initiatives like Sky Ride and Breeze are continuing to inspire people to get on their bikes and enjoy life on two wheels and it is particularly encouraging to see a rise in women’s participation.

“At the start of what could be British Cycling’s greatest summer, our ambitions remain high and the focus is on maintaining momentum and continuing to build on our success over the next Whole Sport Plan period 2013 to 2017.

“Membership is at record levels and our riders are aiming for success in the Tour de France and at the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics.”

The results announced today represent an almost 81,000 increase in the number of people cycling since 2010/11. The growth target set by Sport England for British Cycling (2009 – 13) is 150,000 more people cycling at least once a week. British Cycling is currently exceeding this target and is committed to inspire thousands more, in this special Olympic year, to take to their bikes. 

British Cycling has also seen a sustainable growth in the number of people taking part in sportives and competitive cycling. Over 20,000 people are now regularly racing across all disciplines and almost 3,500 competitive cycling events now take place each year.

Cycling events for young people are also on the rise. 100 Go-Ride clubs have signed up to take part in the Go-Ride Games – a national summer festival of cycling for young people. Last year, British Cycling delivered over 100,000 opportunities for young people to get into cycling.  

British Cycling also today revealed that its membership has grown by another 1,000 in the last month – taking the total membership count to almost 50,000.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has suspended five cricketers who have been linked to spot-fixing in a sting operation done by a TV channel, Indian Premier League (IPL) chairman Rajeev Shukla said.

“The BCCI has decided to suspend the five players pending inquiry. We have set up a committee to provide a preliminary report and it will be made public in 15-20 days. Ravi Sawani (former CBI officer) will be heading the investigation panel,” Shukla said.

Sawani was also the former head of the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Ant-Corruption and Security Unit.

The five players are TP Sudhindra (Deccan Chargers), Mohnish Mishra (Pune Warriors), Amit Yadav (Kings XI Punjab), Shalabh Shrivastava (Kings XI Punjab) and Abhinav Bali, a young Delhi cricketer.

The decision was taken at an emergency meeting of the BCCI at its headquarters in Mumbai.

Earlier today, BCCI termed the alleged spot-fixing scandal in the Indian Premier League and other domestic competitions as “disturbing” and said it would take strict action against those found guilty of indulging in corrupt practices.

“The footage that was shown by the television channel was very disturbing,” BCCI chief administrative officer Ratnakar Shetty said.

“There has been an immediate action proposed by the BCCI president, and strong action will be taken against those found to be guilty,” he added.

40,000 athletics tickets will be included in the final batch of one million for the London 2012 Olympic Games, when sale commences in April.

BBC Sport reports that the tickets will cover all nine days of athletic competition, thousands of which will be sought-after track-and-field sessions including the men’s 100m final.

The vast majority of the 40,000 athletics tickets are expected to be sold within 24 hours of the website going live, with officials are considering allowing every eligible applicant the chance to buy at least two each.

The 20,000 people who missed out twice in last year’s ballot are being given a headstart to choose the best tickets.

The BBC also reports that 50,000 tickets for basketball sessions at the Olympic Park and the North Greenwich Arena (O2), and a further 30,000 tickets for the diving at the Aquatics Centre, are also to be made available – while a few thousand tickets are expected to be put on sale for the opening ceremony.

by Ismail Uddin

German sportswear and shoe company Puma have created a bold new marketing strategy by handpicking ten lucky Tumblr and Instagram bloggers to join seasoned sailing journalist’s in Abu Dhabi for one week, to cover the 39,000-nautical-mile Volvo Ocean Race.

The power of blogging in spreading information instantaneously and forming public opinion worldwide has been increasing as technology has been expanding and can be a very marketable way of spreading the word.

Inspired by previous efforts by Tumblr to bring in influential bloggers from around the world to document high-profile events, Puma takes a new step in promoting their brand by sponsoring ten individuals to cover the international sporting event.

The bloggers are expected to post updates either via Facebook or Twitter and take pictures of the event as the competing sailors prepare and eventually depart on January 15th for the next leg of the race in Sanya, China. According to Puma, each blogger will have “free reign” to cover and document what they wish.

Andrew Schmidt, Puma’s Manager of Digital Media Projects, said: “The idea is to fly in these prominent bloggers and Instagramers and just have it be known that they’re there because of Puma and because they deserve it.”

Puma has its own team in the competition, part of the six contestants and is also the official apparel sponsor of the Volvo Ocean Race.

What’s your opinion in Puma’s new marketing tool? Join our discussion: Should Sailing take better advantage of blogging? to comment.

Major League Baseball’s (MLB) Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt said he’s “not going anywhere” after the league took over operations of the team and held up a long- term TV deal with News Corp. (NWSA)’s Fox Sports.

After MLB Commissioner Bud Selig ordered the takeover last week, McCourt said yesterday, April 27, that he is weighing whether to sue over the takeover, at a news conference in New York.

McCourt stated: “Nobody handed the Dodgers to me and nobody’s going to take them away. I’m not going anywhere. This is a team that I love, a community that I love. These are my hard-earned dollars that I put into this franchise.”

The MLB said in a statement that Selig ‘won’t make a decision until a probe into the team’s finances is complete’, though McCourt was told by baseball officials yesterday, April 27, that he hasn’t ruled out the proposed deal with Fox.

The league said: “Mr. McCourt is well aware of the basis of baseball’s investigation and has been provided an eight-page document describing the issues of concern to Major League Baseball“.

Don Fehr has become the National Hockey League Player’s Association’s (NHLPA) new executive director after players voted “overwhelmingly” in his favour over the weekend. A search committee had recommended Fehr for the post to the executive board in September.

Fehr, 62, was the long-standing executive director of the Major League Baseball Player’s Association (MLBPA) for 26 years between 1983 and 2009 and switched sports to work as an advisor to the NHLPA in recent months.

“This process took a while and it took a while because from the players’ standpoint they wanted to be sure,” said Fehr.

“From my standpoint I wanted them to be sure they had made a decision they were comfortable with, that all the players had an opportunity to have their say and that this judgement represented a consensus view of the entire membership. It has and that’s both quite an honour to me and is also quite humbling.”

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said in a statement: “We are pleased that the leadership position at the Players’ Association has been filled, and we look forward to working with Don in his new role.”

The NHLPA has had four different leaders since the end of the 2004-05 NHL lockout, and the League’s current collective bargaining agreement with the union is scheduled to expire in September 2012.