English Premier League club Newcastle United have settled its tax dispute with HM Revenue & Customs over the payment of image rights to players.

Owner Mike Ashley, Sports Direct founder, will disclose the agreement this week when it announces upbeat full-year results.

Newcastle Utd is not expected to reveal how much it paid to settle the dispute, however it is understood to be less than the contingent liability the club put aside in previous years’ accounts.

The settlement covers all outstanding disputes with HMRC, an insider said. The bulk of the matter is understood to relate to the payment of image rights to its footballers. By labelling payments image rights rather than salaries they can be paid to companies, often offshore, and attract corporation tax at 26% rather than higher rate income tax at 50%.

Although only Chelsea and Newcastle have released information on settlements with HMRC, most Premiership clubs are understood to have come to agreements covering past liabilities and future treatment of payments.

An HMRC spokesman said: “The majority of premier league football clubs have now confirmed that they will pay tax arising from image rights payments, and we continue to negotiate with those that are yet to settle.”

by Ismail Uddin

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) have revealed Google’s flagship automated ad service is profiting from illegal advertisements including London 2012 ads.

The ads in question include unofficial London 2012 Olympic ticket resellers, mixed in among the usual adland-riffraff of fake ID card sellers and cannabis suppliers.

Google has removed the offending Olympic ads following pressure from both the BBC and the metropolitan police.

The search giant is still set to benefit from the profits from these companies’ advertising before their removal.

The BBC’s 5 Live Investigating team highlighted one company called LiveOlympicTickets, whose ad had been appearing at the top of Google’s ranking for anyone searching for “Olympic tickets”.

Google’s AdWords advertising service is partly automated allowing many illegitimate companies to post ads.

While the system does filter key words that can help to highlight unlawful adverts, it is possible for some to slip through the cracks.

Selling tickets on the open market without permission from the Olympic authorities is a criminal offence in the UK under the London Olympic and Paralympic Games Act 2006.

However given that many of the illegal resellers are registered outside the UK, it could be difficult to prosecute.

The maximum penalty fine for reselling Olympic tickets without authorisation from the Olympic authorities was raised last year from £5,000 to £20,000.

Online retailers can simply buy their way to the top of Google’s ranking by paying more.

The very virtue of being listed by Google makes retailers seem genuine to customers, despite Google’s warning s that this isn’t always the case.

“Relying on an automated process is remarkably lax and typing key words into Google can show up illegal sites quite quickly,” online security adviser, Reg Walker told the BBC.

“We carried out an experiment around six months ago trying to knock a ticket scam site off the top of the Google AdWords results and we went up to £28 per click and we still couldn’t shift it from the top.”

“Just because it appears to have the weight of Google behind the advertisement, it doesn’t mean it’s legitimate – it can be quite the opposite,” he added.

This isn’t the first time that Google have come a cropper with their advertising. In August, Google agreed to pay out £324m ($501m) for publishing online adverts from Canadian pharmacies selling illegal drugs to US customers.

Fashion designer Louis Vuitton has renewed its partnership with the America’s Cup to extend its 30-year long association with the event.

The Paris-based fashion house will present the prize, health the Louis Vuitton Cup, see to the winner of the America’s Cup Challenger Series, as well as serve as official timing for the 34th America’s Cup – promoting its new watch range.

“We are thrilled to announce today the continuation of our 30-year partnership with the America’s Cup. Having met with the team several times, we believe that the 34th edition will be the best America’s Cup yet,” said Yves Carcelle, Chairman and CEO of Louis Vuitton Malletier.

In 2013, the Challenger Series will be staged with the winner earning the right to  compete in the America’s Cup Finals. The Challenger series will be once again called the Louis Vuitton Cup, recognizing the brand’s long partnership with the America’s Cup. In addition, Louis Vuitton will be Official Timing for the America’s Cup World Series competitions, promoting its watch collection.

“We are extremely priveleged that our vision for the next America’s Cup has attracted the return of a company like Louis Vuitton,” said Richard Worth, Chairman, America’s Cup Event Authority. “The 34th America’s Cup will culminate in 2013, marking the 30th anniversary of Louis Vuitton’s support of the sport of sailing, so we could not be more proud to see this great partnership continue and strengthen.”

Since 1983, the Louis Vuitton Cup Challenger Series has been held whenever there has been more than one challenger teams for the America’s Cup. Its role is twofold – to select the best challenger team from the teams presented and, to prepare the winner for success against the Defender in the following America’s Cup Finals.

“I have competed for the Louis Vuitton Cup three times in the past, so I know how important it is to the Challenger’s success. We welcome the return of Louis Vuitton and look forward to racing the winner of the Louis Vuitton Cup in 2013,” said Russell Coutts, CEO, BMW ORACLE Racing.

The Louis Vuitton Cup will be in the summer of 2013, with the America’s Cup Finals in early fall. The events will feature the AC72 wing-masted catamaran, a ground-breaking new boat designed to deliver unparalleled racing competition and on-the-water excitement.

“Louis Vuitton is a House that cherishes the art of travel and the spirit of adventure. As a long-time partner, we are very happy to be able to accompany the future of the America’s Cup,” said Pietro Beccari, Senior Vice-President of Louis Vuitton.

IEC in Sports, IAAF’s media rights agency for Europe and Africa, has concluded a deal with Sports Extra Time (SET) for the Sub Saharan African territory for the period 2011 to 2013.

Under the terms of the deal, SET will acquire a package of media rights including terrestrial, free to air and pay TV satellite rights as well as internet and mobile rights for the IAAF World Athletics Series till 2013 in the territory.

The deal covers all of terrestrial Sub Saharan Africa with the exclusion of South Africa and Ghana, where IEC has already concluded agreements.

SET has under contract a network of terrestrial broadcasters and has provided to IEC and the IAAF considerable terrestrial broadcast guarantees across Sub Saharan Africa.

SET is a Swiss based company active in the field of sponsorship and media rights acquisition and distribution and already has a contract with the Confédération Africaine d’Athlétisme (CAA), the IAAF’s continental association for the territory of Africa. Notably with regards to the 2010 CAA African Championships, SET recently achieved the best distribution of the media rights in the history of those championships.

English soccer club, Blackburn say a takeover by the Venky’s group, which would make Rovers the first Indian-owned Premier League club, is set to be completed in November.

Rovers chairman John Williams said: “A series of meetings, including discussions with the Premier League, have followed an extensive due diligence process.

“Both parties are hopeful that the transaction will be completed in November.”

Venkys chairperson Anuradha J Desai added:“We expect to be the first Indian company to acquire a Premier League team.

“And we are particularly delighted that the team is Blackburn Rovers, with whom we believe we have many shared values and ambitions.”

Speaking last week, Blackburn boss Sam Allardyce welcomed the prospect of the sale and new investment into the team.

He said: “The club has been for sale for some time and new investment would be most welcome.

“Investment is needed at every football club and investment here has dried up somewhat because of the club being up for sale.

“We have a strong base at Rovers, a very good club which is run and managed very professionally indeed.

“Blackburn Rovers have a strong history and it could have a bright future given the right sort of investment.”

The French business world has given its backing to Annecy’s bid to host the 2018 Winter Olympic Games after MEDEF, the country’s main commercial confederation, heard a project overview from bid CEO Edgar Grospiron.

Grospiron addressed an audience of more than 200 business leaders at the end of last week at an event organised by MEDEF.

And the former Olympic champion outlined the bid committee’s plans to see off competition from rival bidders Munich and PyeongChang.

Head of MEDEF, Laurence Parisot, said: “Annecy 2018 is a tremendous project, first of all because it is a region which is no stranger to sporting success but also because it is an inspiration to see men and women who have already reached the heights of Olympic achievement to devote their time and efforts to serving the community.

“This is why the MEDEF and all the companies within the MEDEF are resolute in their support.”

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) will decide the host city for the 2018 Winter Games in Durban next July.

British Rowing has announced the inaugural British Rowing Indoor Championships will take place on 8^th February 2015 and will be staged at the Olympic Velodrome in London.

The British Rowing Indoor Championships managed by British Rowing, therapy the national governing body for the sport, therapy will be staged at Lee Valley VeloPark, the new name for the Olympic Velodrome.

‘This is a very exciting development for British Rowing,’ said British Rowing CEO Neil Chugani. ‘As well as the 45,000 regular outdoor rowers in this country, there are an estimated 165,000 people who use a rowing machine every month. Our vision for this event is to offer a variety of racing formats that will appeal to both the serious competitive rowers and fitness enthusiasts and also the general public who are inspired to take part in a fun active challenge with friends, colleagues and other participants.’

He added: ‘We are delighted that we have a stage as awe-inspiring as one of the key venues of British success at the London 2012 Olympics. An important area of our focus will be on investing in the presentation and delivery of the British Rowing Indoor Championships to produce a high quality and rewarding competitor experience.’

Havas Group subsidiary, illness Havas Sports & Entertainment (HS&E), adiposity has signed a strategic partnership with eventures, a full-service integrated communications agency with offices in Bucharest, Romania. 

This partnership will see the expansion of HS&E’s footprint in Eastern Europe, adding to the existing offices in Poland and Russia in the region. 

eventures ’ focus on creativity and expertise in digital, events and PR will complement HS&E’s global offering of strategy, research, brand communication, activation, SoMe, content and live experience.

Led by Managing Partner Amalia Nastase, eventures shares several mutual clients with HS&E, including LVMH, BMW, BBC, and adidas. 

Commenting on this new partnership, Lucien Boyer, President & Global CEO, said:
“We are very excited to enter the Romanian market and support clients looking for local expertise in Eastern Europe combined with the strength of a global network. eventures ’ ideas-centric approach, focus on new technology, and passion match perfectly with HS&E’s vision and spirit. We are excited to work help eventures ’ clients with their global communications needs and deliver an expanded offer to our clients looking to reach this market. We look forward to achieving great things together.” 

Amalia Nastase, Managing Partner at eventures , stated: “This partnership is an important step for the development of our agency as we will benefit from the global track record, expertise and outlook of this leading sports & entertainment network.  We look forward to offering our clients extended services and greater visibility on the international arena and leverage the natural synergies between our agencies. More specifically, the StratoSphere – a proprietary eventures service and the largest projection sphere in the world – will be an additional event solution for HS&E’s and Havas’ clients.”