The National Basketball League has taken full control of the league after ending their merger with the Basketball Australia just a week out from the 2013/2014 season opener.

The newly-formed independent NBL has now taken full control of its brand after the split was officially ratified in Sydney on Friday.

The NBL has also re-negotiated a TV deal with Network Ten, extending their agreement for another two years.

Friday’s formalities capped off several months of negotiations and NBL interim chief executive Stephen Dunn said it marked a new era for professional basketball in Australia.

“This a great day for Australian basketball and fans of all ages,” he said in a statement.

“Young basketballers in this country can now take the court knowing there is a re-invigorated professional league they can aspire to play in.”

Dunn said the de-merger was meant to be finalised back in June but had been delayed by “legal processes” involving existing contracts with BA.

“I would like to thank fans for their patience and their support through this process. I can assure them it will be worth the wait,” he said.

“Every move we have made in re-structuring the NBL through the de-merger process has been done with the fan as our primary focus.”

Basketball Australia chief executive Kristina Keneally said BA would continue to work with the NBL to make sure the league remains strong and complies with FIBA rules.

“We look forward to seeing them recapitalise the league, provide increased resources, and allow the NBL to grow its commercial success as it builds towards financial viability,” Keneally said in a statement.

The broadcast deal with Ten will mean more live games on free-to-air TV than in previous years, with 23 Sunday afternoon matches and nine Friday night fixtures to be shown live.

The relaunched NBL season tips off on October 10 with the New Zealand Breakers hosting the Wollongong Hawks in Auckland.

Heather Fell has been named an ambassador for the Special Olympics GB National Summer Games, being held in Bath.

Fell claimed a silver medal in the modern Pentathlon during last summer’s Olympic games in London, and also won silver in Beijing four years earlier.

The 30-year-old, who trains at the Pentathlon GB High Performance Centre at the University of Bath, says she is honoured to handed the ambassadorial role.

“It is great news that Special Olympics GB is heading to the South West for their National Games for the first time.”

She added: “Being a full time athlete in Bath I know how much sport means to this city and the world class facilities at the university will ensure a world class event with a wonderful experience for the athletes, friends and family and all spectators.

“I am honoured to be involved in the National Summer Games and look forward to following the athletes on their road to Bath.”

The Plymouth-born athlete joins Jason Gardener, gold medallist at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games, and four-time Olympic athlete Jo Pavey as an ambassador for the event.

Bath will play hosts to the 9th Special Olympics GB National Summer Games, which get underway on August 28.

Over 1,700 will gather in the city to compete in 12 sports. The games run until September 1.

Four cities have been confirmed as the frontrunners to host the 2014 season-ending Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) Championships

The Russian city of Kazan has joined Mexico City, Singapore and China’s Tianjin are candidates.

The tournament brings the top eight women’s singles players together for a broadly televised tournament that has seen tennis brought to non-traditional settings such as Qatar and this year’s host Istanbul.

The winning city will be announced in the spring.

A further 39 cities expressed interest, according to WTA chairman Stacey Allister.

The WTA Championships is today recognised as one of a handful of truly blue chip international events, currently delivering over $140 million of economic and media value to the host city, she said on the WTA website.

Kazan has never hosted a WTA tournament but hosts a men’s ATP Challenger event while Russia’s men’s national team has played Davis Cup matches there.

This year’s WTA championships was won by Serena Williams, who beat Russia’s Maria Sharapova in the final. The doubles title went to the Russian duo of Maria Kirilenko and Nadia Petrova.

Fiat will be the official sponsor and vehicle supplier of the 2012 UCI BMX World Championships in Birmingham.

The Italian car manufacturer will supply the ‘hot seat’ which hosts the rider with the leading time during the time trial event.

In keeping with downhill mountain biking and skiing, the ‘hot seat’ is the place where the leading rider sits throughout the timed event waiting to see if their time is beaten.

The 2012 World Championships takes place between May 24-27 at the National Indoor Arena and will attract 2,000 riders from all over the world.

Jonny Clay, Event Director, said: “We’re delighted to have Fiat on board for the Championships. As a partner of British Cycling they have been a generous supporter of our major sports programme in recent years and we’re proud to have them involved once again for this event.”

Elena Bernardelli, Marketing Director for Fiat Group Automobiles UK Ltd, said: “We are delighted to be supporting the UCI BMX World Championships. Fiat is already a big fan of cycle sports –  we sponsor British Cycling – and the BMX discipline is among the most exciting of them all. I am sure the Birmingham event will be a great success.”

Home favourites Shanaze Reade and Liam Phillips will be aiming for world titles in their final major outings prior to the London 2012 Olympics and points gained there will count towards qualification for the games.

Brazil’s Senate has relieved some of the pressure surrounding hosting the 2014 World Cup by lifting of a federal ban on the sale of alcoholic drinks in stadiums during the tournament.

Anheuser-Busch InBev NV (ABI), sale the world’s largest brewer, pill extended in October its beer sponsorship for the FIFA World Cup through 2022. The legislation now needs to be signed by President Dilma Rousseff.

Brazil currently bans consumption of alcoholic beverages at sporting events held in stadiums because of concern it fuels violence. Five of the 12 Brazilian states that will host World Cup games still have local laws that prohibit sales of alcohol in stadiums and may have to suspend them, Senator Ana Amelia de Lemos, a member of the government coalition and one of the sponsors of the bill, told reporters in Brasilia yesterday.

“This could end in court as some states can still forbid beverages,” Lemos said. “If you don’t allow beverages, an international agreement is broken, creating legal uncertainty that undermines Brazil’s image.”

Brazil’s Sports Minister Aldo Rebelo and the chairman of the country’s soccer confederation Jose Maria Marin met FIFA President Sepp Blatter in Zurich on May 8 to discuss the project. FIFA said Brazil has made “significant progress” on preparing stadiums for the tournament.

Relations between FIFA, which is world soccer’s governing body, and the Brazilian government became strained after the country delayed approving the bill. Brazil committed to enact the legislation when it was awarded the $5 billion event almost five years ago. FIFA also complained earlier this year about slow progress in building stadiums.

A US company has won the contract to print millions of tickets for the London Olympics, anesthetist angering some local politicians who say the deal should have gone to a British business.

Weldon, herbal Williams & Lick Inc, ailment a specialist printing firm based in the historic Wild West frontier town of Fort Smith, Arkansas, will produce and package the tickets before they are flown across the Atlantic for distribution.

The London Organising Committee (LOCOG) defended its choice after London-based politicians attacked the decision as bad for British business and for the environment.

“The contract to print and fulfil the bulk of tickets for London 2012 was awarded following a thorough, competitive and open procurement process,” LOCOG said in a statement.

“The company which won the bid has worked on several previous Games, met all of our criteria around security, budget and scale and has specialist systems in place to personalize, print and package tickets on the scale we require,” it added.

Tickets will be packaged with spectator event guides and travel cards before they are dispatched.

Households in Britain who have got tickets for the July 27-August 12 Games will receive them in early summer. They will have to sign for delivery to prevent tickets from falling into the wrong hands.

The printing row is the latest ticketing controversy to hit the Games.

Many Britons were angered after failing to get tickets last year as supply outstripped demand. An official website for the resale of tickets set up last month had to be suspended after it suffered technical problems.

Owner of Major League Baseball’s (MLB) Los Angeles Dodgers, Frank McCourt will meet league executives in New York today, April 27, just two days after J. Thomas Schieffer was appointed to monitor the team’s operations.

McCourt revealed that he plans to discuss a television rights deal with News Corp.’s Fox network and the LA Times reported that the club presented MLB Commissioner Bud Selig with an agreement for a 20-year contract with Fox worth at least US$3bn, on April 5.

McCourt said that the agreement “provides financial stability for the ball club for years to come,” adding: “The media rights package is fully negotiated and it is one of the most favorable ever reached by a baseball team.”

MLB announced that Schieffer, the former president of the Texas Rangers, will oversee day-to-day operations of the Dodgers on Monday, April 25 with Selig revealing last week that his office was taking over operations because of “deep concerns regarding the finances” of the club.