Next summer’s Investec Ashes Test at the Kia Oval has sold out, making it the first Test in England to sell out before the previous Christmas.

The final game of five, which begins on Wednesday 21 August, has seen the 23,500 capacity reached for all five days.

Surrey members were first to have access to tickets, with a priority window from November 10 to December 9. Next were those chosen among 45,000 ballot entrants before those that had missed out in the ballot got their turn on Wednesday. Day five tickets were subsequently put on general release.

The only available tickets for the match are now through Kia Oval debentures, a range of hospitality packages or the ground’s Kennington Club. 

Tickets are still available for next year’s other internationals at the ground via kiaoval.com. They are two NatWest International T20s between England and New Zealand on June 25 and 27 plus five Champions Trophy games, including England versus Sri Lanka on June 13 and the first semi-final on June 19.

Surrey chief executive Richard Gould said: “Selling out these games so quickly really underlines the historic place the Kia Oval holds in the minds of cricket fans across the country.

“After seeing the Ashes created here in 1882 and staging memorable victories in 2005 and 2009, we are really looking forward to next year’s game and hopefully helping England celebrate a third consecutive win over Australia on home soil.

“As well as our Investec Ashes Test match, the ground is also staging seven other exciting international games next year – with U16 tickets for our two NatWest T20 internationals available for just £1 – so there should be plenty of opportunity for everyone wanting to experience the atmosphere of a big match at the Kia Oval to come down at some stage throughout the year.

“With so much international cricket and the unveiling of the magnificent new frontage to our historic members’ pavilion – creating a ‘front door’ for the ground that will be one of the finest in world cricket – 2013 will be a hugely exciting year for everyone connected with both Surrey County Cricket Club and the Kia Oval.”

The NFL Players Association’s 12-member executive committee urged 32 team owners to end the league’s lockout of its veteran officials, claiming owners have failed in their responsibility to create a “safe” working environment.”

“We believe there is substantial evidence that you have failed in your obligation to provide as safe a working environment as possible,” the NFLPA wrote in the letter to 32 owners.

“Your decision to lock out officials with more than 1,500 years of collective NFLexperience has led to a deterioration of order, safety and integrity,” the letter said.

The letter is signed by the NFLPA’s 12-man executive committee headed by president and former Baltimore Ravens cornerback Domonique Foxworth and six current players, including NFPA vice presidents — New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees, Cleveland Browns linebacker Scott Fujita, Green Bay Packers center Jeff Saturday and Browns tight end Benjamin Watson.

They cited “poor calls, missed calls and bad game management. But the combination of those deficiencies will only continue to jeopardize player health and safety and the integrity of the game that has taken decades to build.”

Talks between the league and NFLRA broke off again Wednesday after two days with a substantial gap remaining over issues including the continuance of a defined pension benefit fund the NFLRA wants to have continued for its veteranofficials.

League senior vice president Ray Anderson said the league has warned all clubs to refrain from criticizing the replacement officials.

A side judge assigned to last Sunday’s New Orleans Saints game, Brian Stropolo was removed by the league for posting his allegiance to the Saints — posting pictures of himself wearing Saints gear while tailgating during a preseason game on his personal Facebook page.

“Coaches and players have complained of numerous errors and failures including: erratic and missed calls on egregious holds and hits, increased skirmishes between players and confusion about game rules,” the players wrote. “Many replacements have lost control of games due to inexperience and unfamiliarity with players and rules.

“The headlines are embarrassing: A scab working a game despite having been on the payroll of one of the teams, another who was assigned to referee a team he publicly supported on Facebook, and one who is a professional poker player when you propose even more stringent player rules on gambling.”

SportAccord Convention have announced that the 2013 edition of the Convention will take place in Saint Petersburg, herbal Russia from May 26-31 next year.

SportAccord Convention 2013 was originally scheduled to be held in Sochi, cheap host city of the XXII Olympic Winter Games in 2014. It was decided to move the location of the eleventh annual Convention to Saint Petersburg in order not to interfere with the extensive testing programme for the Games in 2013.

“We could not be happier about the prospect of holding the Convention in the great city of Saint Petersburg next year, asthma ” said SportAccord Convention Chairman Hein Verbruggen. “This decision has been under discussion with our Russian partners for a long time and we are pleased to be able to confirm Saint Petersburg as our 2013 host.”

Held in a different city every year, SportAccord Convention is a unique opportunity for international sporting leaders to engage with business, featuring a dynamic exhibition as well as the annual general meetings of governing bodies of world sport.

The 10th anniversary edition of SportAccord Convention takes place in Québec City in Canada from May 20-25, 2012.

Comcast Corp. has lost a major court case to Tennis Channel on Tuesday when a Federal Communications Commission judge effectively ordered the cable giant to carry the channel on a more widely available tier of service.

In the decision, Administrative Law Judge Richard L. Sippel ruled that the Tennis Channel had proved Comcast had discriminated against it by relegating the outlet to tiers of service available in fewer homes than Comcast’s own Golf Channel and Versus sports channel. He ordered Comcast to stop discriminating against the channel as soon as “practicable,” and pay a $375,000 fine.

“In general, the larger the interest that Comcast has in a network, the greater the distribution provided by Comcast,” Mr. Sippel wrote in the decision, which relied on federal rules that bar cable operators that own channels from discriminating against channels owned by others. The Tennis Channel is owned by a group that includes several private-equity firms, although satellite-TV firms DirecTV Inc. and Dish Network Corp. have small interests.

Comcast said it will appeal the ruling to the full FCC.

“Comcast has the contractual right to distribute Tennis Channel as it does currently, and Comcast firmly believes that the exercise of that right to minimize costs to consumers is not discrimination,” the company said in a statement, adding that the decision to supersede their contract is “unprecedented.”

The ruling, if upheld, could force broader distribution of a host of smaller cable channels—especially sports channels whose rising costs have become a source of concern in the cable business.

Sports-team owners, for instance, could have an easier time getting distribution for their own regional sports networks. Currently their main obstacle is the unwillingness of cable operators to put a network of interest to only a fraction of their viewers on a tier available to a broad number of their subscribers. But if independent owners can now claim discrimination in markets where the cable operator owns a sports channel, they may be able to wrestle wider carriage-which would likely drive up cable bills.

It has been revealed that more than a million extra tickets for the London 2012 Olympics will not go on sale until next Spring.

Thousands of tickets for most popular events, were held back from sale earlier this year while seating plans were finalised. London 2012 organisers had initially said those tickets could go on sale as early as December, but that is now unlikely to happen before April 2012.

The only tickets which will be put on sale in December are for football. Around 1.5 million football tickets were left unsold at the end of the first two sale phases. Football was the only sport which did not sell out.

There is bound to be enormous demand for the remaining non-football tickets when they are finally available. There will be several thousand tickets available for both the opening and closing ceremonies, which were massively oversubscribed, as well as other sought-after events like the athletics finals.

A spokeswoman for the London 2012 organising committee, Locog said that the organisation’s focus is currently on the sale of Paralympic tickets, which continues until 26 September.

She added: “In December, we will put 1.5 million Olympic football tickets on sale on a live system. The remaining one million Olympic tickets, to all sports, will go on sale to the British public next year from the contingency seats, once venues are tested and licensed, and operational plans are completed.”

It is still to be decided how the remaining tickets will be sold. It is likely that those who applied this year, and were unsuccessful, will be given priority.

The difficulty, though, with the tickets not being allocated until so close to the Games is that those who are lucky enough to be able to buy them could discover that transport and accommodation prices have risen in the meantime.

Visa, an official sponsor of the International Olympics Committee (IOC) is looking to enhance the profile of Britain’s Olympic athletes during its marketing activity ahead of the 2012 Games. Up until the event, Visa will be the official presenting partner of the British team and will look to boost the profile to encourage interest in the athletes progression.

Head of Partnership Marketing at Visa Europe, Colin Grannell stated: “The goal is to make the team famous, to make some of the individuals much higher-profile.”

In their attempts to achieve this goal, Visa will also create competitions that offer the chance to meet and train with athletes in the run-up to the Games. The campaign will be undertaken through digital and social media as well as point-of-sale activity.

Danny Jordaan is set to be nominated by the South African Football Association (SAFA) to run for the presidency of the Confederation of African Football (CAF).

Jordaan was the chief executive of the organising committee for this summer’s FIFA World Cup in South Africa, and according to SAFA, his name will be put forward for the 2011 elections.

SAFA vice president Mwelo Nonkonyana has said Jordaan is the right man to improve football in Africa. He said: “Our position is clear, we want to transform soccer, not only in Africa, but the rest of the world.

“We have already consulted extensively in this regard. We have to know CAF’s views. We don’t want to antagonise people – we wish to make a difference.

“Change must come, but it must be a change for the better. We will nominate a person with extensive knowledge of the game, and a person who has demonstrated those qualities is Danny Jordaan.”

The Perth 2011 International Sailing Federation (ISAF) Wolrd Championships’ sponsorship programme has been a success, despite the current tough economic climate, it has been revealed.

Darren Beazley, Director of commercial operations, said: “Over the last 16 months, we have been successful in a challenging economic climate to secure over 25 partners in the different categories. On the sponsorship front, we are supported by the Australian Government, Eventscorp, as well as commercial sponsors such as QBE Australia, Middletons, Leeuwin Estate, Little Creatures, Carbon Conscious, Kailis Australian Pearls and so on. We also have official supplier and event partners too numerous to list here.

“Perth 2011 has been approached by companies from overseas, including the US and more recently from a large financial institution from the United Kingdom. Currently, we have international businesses involved such as DB Schenker, which has joined as an official supplier, and we hope that we will have other international organisations join Perth 2011 over the next 12 months.”

The Perth 2011 ISAF World Championships is set to be the largest sailing event ever held in Australia, and will take place from 3 to 18 December 2011, on the shores of Western Australia.