The Asia-Pacific Panasonic Open on the Asian Tour will return to the Ibaraki Country Club for US$1.48 million showpiece held from September 26 to 29, abortion 2013.

The Asia-Pacific Panasonic Open will be sanctioned by the Asian Tour and the Japan Golf Tour for the sixth straight season and the event is poised to attract a stellar field including defending champion Masanori Kobayashi of Japan.

The highly acclaimed Ibaraki Country Club, situated in Osaka, was the first venue for the Asia-Pacific Panasonic Open when the event was launched as a co-sanctioned event in 2008. Japan’s Hideto Tanihara won the inaugural tournament.

Asian Tour Chairman Kyi Hla Han saluted the support from Panasonic, which is also the title sponsor for the Panasonic Open India that was won by Wade Ormsby of Australia in April.

“On behalf of the Asian Tour, I would like to thank Panasonic for their continued support to grow the game of golf in the region. The Asia-Pacific Panasonic Open has featured prominently on the Asian Tour’s Schedule since 2008 and we are delighted to work closely with the Japan Golf Tour, Japan Golf Association and the Asia Pacific Golf Confederation to ensure the event’s success,” said Han.

“The Asian Tour is celebrating our 10th season this year and through the years, the Tour has grown tremendously. Our members have enjoyed success on many levels and we are confident the Asian Tour will achieve more growth in the years to come.”

Japan Golf Tour Chairman Katsuji Ebisawa said: “The Japan Golf Tour is thrilled to work with the Asian Tour to ensure the continued success of the Asia-Pacific Panasonic Open. I would like to express my gratitude to the Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation, Japan Golf Association and Panasonic Corporation for hosting this event which will attract the best golfers from Japan and the Asian Tour.”

Sunday’s NFL game between the San Diego Chargers and the Atlanta Falcons will not be shown live in Southern California as per NFL poicy.

The League’s long-standing policy requires all games not sold out 72 hours prior to kickoff to be blacked out in the local market. This includes all signals within a 75-mile radius of the stadium and those areas whose television signal reaches within that 75-mile zone. The League’s policy affects all telecasts, hospital including cable and satellite.

Nearly 9,200 general tickets remain available at Qualcomm Stadium Gate C, while nearly 2,000 Club Seats, some of the best locations in the stadium, and a limited number of single-game Luxury Suites also are available. The Chargers’ ticket office is open weekdays 8-5 pm and Saturday 10-4 pm.

The game kicks off at 1:05 pm PT at Qualcomm Stadium.

The Spanish tennis federation (RFET) is looking to sue French TV broadcaster Canal+ over a sketch which appeared to imply world number two Rafa Nadal and his fellow Spanish athletes are drug cheats.

The sketch from the show “Les Guignols,” or “The Puppets,” shows a life-size likeness of Nadalfilling up his car’s gas tank from his own bladder before being pulled over by traffic police for speeding.

“Spanish athletes. They do not win by chance,” is flashed on the screen surrounded by the logo of the RFET and several other Spanish federations, including soccer and cycling.

In a statement published on Wednesday, the RFET said it planned to sue Canal+ France for “publishing a video in which, as well as containing unacceptable and damaging insinuations, the federation’s emblem and anagram were used.”

The federation would be demanding that the video is withdrawn, the logo is not used again and that Canal+ pays damages for its unauthorized use, the statement added.

Canal+ officials did not immediately respond to telephone calls seeking comment.

“On this occasion intolerable limits have been exceeded and we at the RFET cannot ignore such discredit and slander towards our athletes,” federation president Jose Luis Escanuela said.

Canal+ broadcasted the Nadal sketch after Spanish cyclist Alberto Contador was banned for two years on Monday for failing a doping test during the 2010 Tour de France.

It was the latest French attack on Spanish athletes following comments from former French Open tennis champion Yannick Noah in November in which he accused them of using “magic potions.”

Sevilla FC president Jose Maria del Nido has been sentenced to seven and a half years in prison for his involvement in the embezzlement of public funds in the southern Spanish town of Marbella.

Del Nido will also have to pay the Marbella town hall $3.5 million for his role as a lawyer in the corruption ring from 1999-2003.

Marbella’s former mayor, Julian Munoz, received the same sentence, while the municipality’s former urban planning adviser, Juan Antonio Roca, was sentenced to four years in prison.

They have five days to appeal the sentence handed down by the regional Malaga court to Madrid’s Supreme Court.

Sevilla vice president Jose Castro defended Del Nido.

“This is terribly unjust,” he said.

Del Nido is in his ninth season as club president. During that period, Sevilla has won two UEFA Cup titles, two Copa del Rey trophies, one European Super Cup and two third-place finishes in the Spanish league.

Coach Marcelino Garcia said the court ruling would not affect the team on the field.

“I am not going to say anything on the subject because it belongs to the personal life of the president, but I do want to show my total and sincere support,” said Marcelino, who is in his first season with the Andalusian club.

“I hope he continues as Sevilla’s president for a long time and continues to be as successful as he has until now,” he added.

Sevilla is sixth in the Spanish league after its 6-2 loss to Real Madrid on Saturday.

Marbella was once known as a glitzy resort destination, but in recent years it has been tarnished by corruption.

In 2006, the Spanish government took the unprecedented step of dissolving the Marbella city council amid the scandal in which various city officials, including Munoz and Roca, were accused of accepting bribes and other favors in exchange for granting building permits.

The Rugby World Cup 2011 is fast running out of tickets with only 170,000 tickets remaining.

Mike Miller, head of the International Rugby Board, has urged New Zealanders to buy the surplus tickets with New Zealand unlikely to see the tournament again for a while. New Zealand last hosted the tournament in 1987 which they won.

The tournament starts September 9 with the hosts opening proceedings against Tonga.

Miller told National Radio last week New Zealanders did not seem to appreciate the importance of the tournament.

Miller said: ‘My main concern is that you’re not going to get Rugby World Cup back here for a long time. There are lots of countries around the world that want to host the Rugby World Cup, so people should take advantage of it while it’s here’.

European Athletics have announced the renewal of its long-running contract with the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). The partnership has been in place since 1981 and was extended for the period 2012-2015.

European Athletics and EBU signed the new contract on Wednesday 15 December at the EBU headquarters in Geneva.

The contract renewal will cover all of European Athletics’ major events including the Helsinki 2012 and Zurich 2014 European Athletics Championships, the Göteborg 2013 European Athletics Indoor Championships and the 2015 indoor championships which is yet to be awarded.

The agreement also covers the European Team Championships and European Cross Country Championships taking place during the four-year contract period.

European Athletics President Hansjörg Wirz said, “I am very pleased that we are continuing our valued partnership with EBU. Our agreement is a vital part of our ongoing aim to increase the popularity of athletics around Europe.

“EBU gives us the biggest platform to promote our sport on public free-to-air TV channels throughout the continent, which is an extremely important consideration for us.”

Stefan Kürten, EBU Director of Sports & Business Department added: “I am very pleased that we have reached an agreement with European Athletics for another four years. This demonstrates our commitment to support all major sports and federations aiming to reach the largest audience in Europe.”

David Pullan, the chief marketing officer of English Premier League side Manchester City, has left his role at the club after just 18 months in the role.

Pullan was appointed in March 2009 to help grow the club’s brand around the globe following the takeover by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

Manchester City denied to comment on Pullan’s departure but did confirm the club was now looking for a replacement.

Chris Kay is still at the club as head of marketing, and is the leading internal candidate to replace Pullan.

The Japan Football Association (JFA) has named Junji Ogura as the new president after Motoaki Inukai stood down for health reasons.

Orgura will also lead the country’s bid to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup, but the 71-year-old FIFA executive committee member has said he doesn’t expect to hold the position beyond the two remaining years that were on Inukai’s contract.

Ogura said: “At my age I will be looking to retire in two years. I’m surprised the job has suddenly come along but I was asked to step in.”

One of Ogura’s first tasks as president of the JFA will be to find a new coach of the national team after Takeshi Okada resigned following his side’s exit from this summer’s World Cup in South Africa.