ECB Association of Cricket Officials (ACO) have announced that David Edwards, ed sale Surrey ACO Chairman and an Honorary Life Member of ECB ACO, collapsed and died this morning.

David qualified as an umpire in 1970 and stood in over 2000 matches, including International ‘A’ ODI’s, since the introduction of the Umpires Panel in 1987.

Having served for 29 years as Surrey’s Secretary/Appointments Officer, he most recently held the role of Secretary for the Surrey Championship.

David was an examiner for ACU&S for many years and was the driving force behind the formation of Surrey ACO, which is now the third largest in the country. He was Chairman of SCB ACO and was awarded a National OSCA in 2010.

ECB said: “Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife Virginia and his family.”

Ingrained Media, a leading boutique advertising, marketing and athlete representation agency, announced today the expansion of its elite clientele to include Marti Malloy, Judo star and 2012 Olympic Bronze Medalist.

Marti’s dedication to becoming one of the world’s best Judokas took a step forward at the 2012 London Olympics where she secured a bronze medal for Team USA. Marti also recently graduated on the Dean’s list from San Jose State University. The Washington native has showed tremendous success in multiple areas of life during her 26 years.

On the heels of her success Marti has engaged the services of Ingrained Media. Jason Genet, President of Ingrained Media, said, “Marti’s appeal goes beyond the mat. She will make a great Brand Ambassador and spokesperson for the top tier brands that want to align themselves with a wholesome representative from the Olympic Games.” Sr. Vice President Jordan McCreery said, “Marti’s potential as a global ambassador is virtually untapped. We are looking forward to leveraging her current relationships and extending her new opportunities with companies all over the world.”

Malloy had this to say about the signing, “I am super excited about the plans that Ingrained Media has in store for myself and my career. As an Advertising major I knew exactly what I wanted in an agency and I found it with Ingrained Media.” Malloy continued, “Winning the Bronze Medal has been nothing short of amazing but the focus now is to come back in four years and upgrade this Bronze to a Gold.”

Malloy burst onto the Judo scene in her first senior international competition, the 2002 Rendez-Vous Canada where, as a 16-year-old, she won Gold. To do it she defeated a 2000 Olympian and the previous year’s U.S. National Champion. Malloy continued her competitive success, winning a silver medal at the 2005 U.S. Open and becoming the only U.S. athlete to win Gold at the Junior Pan American Championships.

Li Na has criticised the Chinese Tennis Association after it entered her into the Olympic doubles tournament at the London Games.

Li’s team said earlier this month she hoped to focus only on the singles given her injuries.

“So far I have not heard from anyone asking me to play doubles. I hope they could respect athletes more … the way they handled this makes me uncomfortable,” she said.

“I am 30 now and all these issues could have been put on the table. If both [parties] are okay, we do it, otherwise we do not.”

After a dispute with the Chinese Tennis Association about pay and training routines, Li and several others were leave from the country’s Soviet-style sports regime in 2009 to organise their schedules and retain most of their prize-money.

Defying officials over the Olympics would be unpopular in China and Li said she would “obey” the decision. {jcomments on}

English Conference National Team Kettering Town have initiated legal proceedings against DRC Locums in an attempt to claim sponsorship money they believe they are owed.

Poppies chairman Imraan Ladak, the former chief executive of DRC, says the club are due £237,600.

DRC has quickly rebutted this claim, arguing the sponsorship deal was cancelled following Ladak’s departure from the company in early 2011.

But Kettering say the arrears are from before the termination of the deal.

The club initially believed it was owed £421,335 by DRC Locum, a company that provides staff for the NHS, but their legal claim is for a sum of almost £200,000 less.

The Poppies have not paid their players’ wages in full and on time since October and are the subject of a winding-up petition from HM Revenue & Customs on Monday, 6 February.

They will be deducted three points by the Football Conference if they fail to pay football creditors by 28 February.

InfrontRingier Sports & Entertainment Switzerland AG, see joint venture between Infront Sports & Media and Ringier, order has been appointed by Match Hospitality AG as exclusive sales agent for the sale of the commercial hospitality packages in Switzerland and Liechtenstein for the FIFA Confederations Cup Brazil 2013 and the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil.

Match Hospitality AG is the exclusive worldwide rights holder of the FIFA Hospitality Programme and is the only company worldwide that is officially authorised by FIFA to offer and guarantee exclusive hospitality packages including tickets and services for every match of the FIFA World Cup directly or through its appointed sales agents.

Under the agreement, sale InfrontRingier will have the exclusive right to sell hospitality packages to corporate entities and individuals from Switzerland and Liechtenstein who wish to be in Brazil when the world’s best teams compete at each of these high-profile football events. The FIFA Hospitality Programme provides access to premium tickets bundled with a range of onsite services including private suites and lounges, marquee tents, gourmet catering, preferential parking, entertainment and gifts.

Held every four years the FIFA Confederations Cup Brazil 2013, a prelude to the following year’s FIFA World Cup, will consist of the six continental champions as well as World Champions Spain and hosts Brazil. The tournament is scheduled to take place between 15 and 30 June 2013.

The 2014 FIFA World Cup will be the 20th FIFA World Cup in the history of the tournament and the second time that Brazil has played host to the competition. Scheduled to take place between 12 June and 13 July 2014, the tournament will see the world’s best 32 teams competing for their place at the Fnal. The 64 matches will be played across venues in twelve host cities namely Belo Horizonte, Brasília, Cuiabá, Curitiba, Fortaleza, Manaus, Natal, Porto Alegre, Recife, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador, São Paulo.

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The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has asked the British Olympic Association (BOA) to review its policy of giving a lifetime Olympic ban to any athlete previously suspended for doping.

On Thursday, the Court of Arbitration for Sport threw out an IOC rule that bars any athlete who has received a doping suspension of more than six months from competing in the next games.

The BOA reinforced its commitment to its bylaw which has been in place since 1992, although WADA director-general David Howman says the ruling has not been approved by his organization.

Howman told the BBC “what we’ve done as a result of the CAS decision is to write to (the BOA). They are trying to take a strong approach … but it has to be fair and consistent.”

The Canadian Cycling Association (CCA) has initiatied the bid process to host the 2015 UCI Road World Championships to eligible candidates.

Held annually, remedy the UCI Road World Championships represent the most important road cycling event in the World for National Cycling Associations.

Eligible organising committees have until November 7th, anabolics 2010 to present in writing their intent to present a candidature for consideration to the CCA. The deadline to file candidatures, drug which must be inclusive of the majority of the UCI candidature file requirements, has been set as December 7th.

The CCA will publicly inform the selected candidate on December 15th, and will then proceed to file the international candidature. The successful international candidate will be announced by the UCI at the 2011 Road World Championships.

Canada has hosted the UCI Road World Championships twice in the history of the event.

The International Triathlon Union (ITU) today revealed that the 2015 ITU Cross Triathlon World Championships will next season be held in Sardinia, medstore Italy in the town of Orosei. 

“Sardinia offers up both spectacular views and a challenging course for the Cross Triathlon World Championships,” said Marisol Casado, ITU President and IOC Member. “The multisport discipline of cross triathlon has grown immensely in the last few years. We look forward to continuing to develop this exciting format.” 

In just its fifth edition, the Cross Triathlon World Championships will travel to Sardinia for the first time and will be coordinated in association with TNatura. Orosei this year hosted the European Cross Triathlon Championships over a 1.5km swim, 30km bike that traversed across sandy terrain followed by a 10km cross country run. 

Exact dates for the World Championship race is yet to be confirmed.

Dove Men+Care have announced a new marketing campaign throughout the 2014 NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Championship. 

The new campaign from the brand will shine a spotlight on basketball’s top decision makers to show sports fans that Dove Men+Care is an easy decision for men’s grooming routines (during game day and beyond).

The new ‘Easy Decision’ campaign includes a video series featuring seasoned basketball decision makers and coaches Frank Vogel and Jay Wright. As top professional and NCAA head coaches Vogel and Wright decide team line-ups and high-pressure plays almost daily. The ‘Easy Decision’ campaign will highlight how Dove Men+Care body wash and bar offer more care for men’s skin1. The videos will air throughout March Madness programming as part of Unilever’s multi-year NCAA Corporate Partnership with CBS Sports and Turner Sports.

“Vogel and Wright are experienced decision makers who have to make incredibly tough choices under pressure and while on the clock,” said Rob Candelino, Vice President for Unilever Skincare. “Dove Men+Care has partnered with these top decision makers to show guys everywhere that no matter what type of tough every day choices they face, choosing products with more care for your skin is an easy decision.”