Local news reports in Brazil have suggested construction workers have left their jobs at the World Cup stadium, Arena Amazones in the city of Manaus after a worker fell 115 feet to his death.

A construction worker died at the site on Saturday, prompting a labour court to order a halt to all work being conducted high above ground until they were satisfied that conditions are safe.

The G1 Internet portal said the stoppage has brought all work on the stadium to a halt.

The G1 report cited a labor union representing construction workers as saying the stadium’s estimated 1,800 workers walked off the job early Monday to protest safety conditions and what they described as pressure to speed up the project. Amazonas state government officials have denied applying pressure to accelerate the work.

England are set to kick off their Group D campaign at the stadium on June 14 against Italy and the tragedy is the latest in a series of setbacks for organisers.

The venue will also host three other matches including Cameroon/Croatia, USA/Portugal and Honduras/Switzerland.

The death in Manaus brings the number of workers killed during construction of World Cup venues to five, including two who died last month when a crane collapsed at the Itaquera Arena in Sao Paulo, which is to hold the opening ceremony and first match of the finals between Brazil and Croatia.

Latvia will host a round of the FIA European Rally Championship for a three-year period from 2014 following the signing of a major agreement between the organisers of Rally Liepaja and ERC promoter Eurosport Events, viagra it was announced recently.

The Baltic nation joined the ERC for the first time in 2013 with the all-new Rally Liepaja-Ventspils, an exciting winter event that took place between the two cities in the west of the country.

Subject to FIA World Motor Sport Council approval, Rally Liepaja will form round two of the 2014 ERC schedule with the event based entirely around the city of Liepaja from 31 January-2 February next year.

Francois Ribeiro, Motorsport Development Director, Eurosport Events, said: “We are delighted to have concluded a three-year agreement with Rally Liepaja to form part of the FIA European Rally Championship from 2014 onwards. It gives the event stability and a long period to build up something even bigger.”

Italian Basketball club, Acea Virtus Rome have announced they will not participate in the Turkish Airlines Euroleague Basketball next season after they failed to meet the minimum requirements of the tournament including a sufficiently sized arena.

In a statement Euroleague Basketball said: “Prior to the finalization of the list of teams that will be proposed for participation in the 2013-14 Turkish Airlines Euroleague, one club that had earned the right to register for the regular season, Acea Virtus Rome of Italy, has announced that it will relinquish those rights to a B-license due to an inability to meet the competition’s minimum requirements.”

Officials of the club said they had not expected to qualify for the Euroleague so soon after having launched a long-term project last season and does not expect to be able to meet several requirements of the competition bylaws, in particular the standard regarding minimum arena capacity.

“For that reason, they said it is preferable now to pursue a step-by-step plan whose goal is to participate in the Turkish Airlines Euroleague in the future, when the club is better prepared,” the statement added.

Acea Virtus Rome finished as runner-up in the just-completed Italian League championship, thus earning the right for a B-license according to the 2013-14 Turkish Airlines Euroleague license allocation criteria. The competition bylaws allow for the renunciation of a B-license to be replaced by a wild card that will be granted to the club that the General Assembly considers appropriate at its own discretion, exploring initially as a priority maintaining the license within the same country.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has revealed the Pro Bowl may be no more after the 2013 game because of the “lack of competition.”

Goodell said he had considered axing the All-star game this coming offseason, abortion but the players had asked him to give them another chance to make it better. That was just one of the topics Goodell discussed when he faced 15 fans Monday, vialis 40mg answering questions at SiriusXM radio studios in Manhattan as part of a town hall-style interview conducted by Michael Strahan.

“The players asked if they could take another crack at it to try to work to get the game more competitive, troche ” Goodell said. “Obviously, I support that. But if we can’t accomplish that kind of standard, I’m inclined not to play it any more.”

Lou Imbriano, former Chief Marketing Officer of the New England Patriots, believes the event should be used merely as a warm-up for the Super Bowl.

Speaking exclusively to iSportconnect, Imbriano said: “The NFL Pro Bowl should kick off Super Bowl festivities in the host city during the week prior to the game. It should be looked at more as a fan interactive event where the players showcase their skills, have a “mini game” and interact with fans in various ways.

The Asian Sailing Federation (ASAF) will table a submission supporting the reinstatement of windsurfing as an Olympic sport at the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) conference in Ireland in November.

Windsurfing was omitted in favour of kiteboarding for the 2016 Games at an Isaf council meeting in early May.

Asaf’s decision to back windsurfing was made at its general meeting (EOGM) in Singapore

Singapore Sailing Federation (SSF) president, Dr Ben Tan, said: “Singapore tabled the windsurfing issue for the EGM and Hong Kong provided strong and objective data to support windsurfing’s case at the meeting.

“All the Asian countries were unanimous in their support for windsurfing. Asaf will make a unified submission for the Isaf meeting in November, with member federations making individual submissions in support as well.

“I am optimistic that Isaf will be sensible enough to reverse the decision in favour of windsurfing, as the class meets all of the IOC’s (International Olympic Commitee) requirements to be an Olympic sport,” added Dr Tan.

Windsurfing has been an Olympic sport since the 1984 Los Angeles Games.{jcomments on}

Richard Lewis, healing the Wimbledon chief executive, viagra 40mg is in negotiations with “major stakeholders” about moving the tournament back a week.

The aim is to create a longer grass-court season and increase the time lag between the end of the French Open which signals the conclusion of the clay-court section of the year and the switch of surfaces.

“It will give us an extra week of grass?court tennis and that will enable the players to prepare for the Championships,” Lewis said. “Any change would not happen before 2014 at the earliest.”

Discussions will be held with television companies and sponsors although due to contracts with them a switch cannot happen until 2014.

The move would also bypass a potential clash with the Formula One British Grand Prix which this year is on the same day as the Men’s Final, July 8.

If Wimbledon started a week later, the Grand Prix would happen on the tournament’s middle Sunday, a rest day at the tennis.

Mohamed Bin Hammam’s lawyer has revealed that his client will be challenging his life ban from FIFA in the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). 

Bin Hammam received a life ban for his part in the bribery affair in 2011. 

The former president of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) is also claiming that he should not be replaced by China’s Zhang Jilong as acting AFC president until the organisation’s next Congress in May. 

His lawyer Eugene D Gulland said in a statement: “Mr Bin Hammam is taking these steps before CAS to clear his name.” 

Bin Hammam will not attend the hearing in person and the court’s decision is expected next month.

Less than 40% of onsite hospitality tickets have been sold with less than a year to go until London 2012.

Prestige Ticketing bought 90,000 tickets, roughly one per cent of the total allocation, from Olympic organisers Locog. Over 60% of the Prestige Ticketing’s deals are still on offer. The company has not disclosed how much it paid for the tickets, nor its expected profit

London 2012 will be the first Olympic Games to have on-site corporate hospitality. Industry insiders have said they would expect a much higher proportion of packages to have been sold after almost seven months of sales.

Prestige Ticketing’s package deals are priced between £495 and £4,500 packages. The most expensive packages are being sold in consignments of 10; these packages guarantee seats for ceremonies or prestigious athletics and cycling finals.

Prestige Ticketing is building a £7.5m three-storey pavilion at the Olympic Park that will cater for 3,000 guests at a time. There will also be hospitality venues in areas including Greenwich and Wimbledon.

According to Prestige Ticketing, corporate packages for women’s hockey final have already sold out. There has also been strong demand for the tennis at Wimbledon as well as the rowing at Eton Downey and Greenwich equestrian events.

Prestige Ticketing’s Marketing Director Tony Barnard said: “We’re seeing a significant increase in sales activity. The ballots for tickets have ended so people know that if they want to go, there’s only one way left to go.”

London’s Bloomberg Square Mile Relay, which allows city workers to compete against each other in a road relay race is scheduled to take place at 6:45pm on Thursday 15th September.

Now in its fifth year, the Bloomberg Square Mile Relay sees more than 1,000 competitors from over 100 teams race around one unique mile that winds through the heart of the City.

Each team member will run along the specifically designed course, fighting off their rivals along narrow alleyways, up spiral staircases and through shopping arcades before ending at the transition area in Guildhall and passing on the baton to the next runner.

Among the firms entered in this year’s relay include: Allen & Overy LLP, AnaCap Financial Partners, Bank of America, Barclays Capital, BNP Paribas, Brooks MacDonald, Citi, Credit Agricole, Credit Suisse, ECB, Goldman Sachs, ICAP, Investec Asset Management, JP Morgan, Legal & General, Macquarie, Mako, RBS Capital Markets, Rothschild, Square Mile Magazine, WestLB and TT International.

These City firms and many more will go head-to-head to see who’s got what it takes to compete in the most innovative relay race of the year as they look to top the podium ahead of the previous year’s winners Legal & General (2007 & 2008) and Barclays Capital (2009 & 2010) with the latter chasing an unprecedented hattrick.

The winning team will receive a cheque for £5,000 to go towards the charity of their choice. 

Last year, Barclays Capital opted to put the proceeds towards Richard House Children’s Hospice.

The Bloomberg Square Mile Relay 2011 is also partnered with Virgin Active – the Official Health Club Partner of the event.

To find out more details on the Bloomberg Square Mile Relay, log on to www.squaremilesport.com.