Germany’s leading sports rights agency SPORTFIVE has extended their marketing contract with Hertha BSC until at least 2025.

As part of the collaboration SPORTFIVE will be in charge of marketing, TV rights as well as hospitality and new media services. SPORTFIVE has been partners Hertha BSC since 1994.

Ingo Schiller, Director of Finance at Hertha BSC, said: “The restructuring and renewal of the contract is extremely important and very positive for both sides. Together we are the potentials that are opened up by the new partner KKR, use for the benefit of the club. “

Philipp Hasenbein, Managing Director of SPORTFIVE: “The entry of KKR strengthens the capital club. He is not only good for the club, but also for his fans and the city of Berlin. We have been working for 20 years very trusting with Hertha BSC together and look forward to the future together. “

The London Aquatics Centre, which was used during the London 2012 Olympics, will host the FINA/NVC Diving World Series between April 25 and 27, British Swimming has announced.

It will be the first time the centre will have been used for international competition since work to transform it in the wake of the Games.

UK Sport has confirmed an investment of up to £100,000 from its National Lottery-backed Gold Event Series – a programme to bring 70 elite events to the United Kingdom by 2017 – by way of support.

British Swimming’s chief executive David Sparkes said: “We look forward to welcoming the best divers in the world back to London. Many of those attending will already have fantastic memories of the iconic venue and of the 2012 Olympics.

“This event marks the beginning of the history of the pool within legacy mode and we wish the divers well as they start the next chapter in the life of this fabulous building.”

Mayor of London Boris Johnson added: “The 2012 Games continue to change lives in the capital and I hope news that the world’s diving elite will return to our amazing Aquatics Centre next year will inspire even more Londoners to take to the pool.”

The FINA/NVC Diving World Series is an annual competition which will also have meetings in Beijing, Dubai, Moscow, Windsor and Monterrey.

Leading MotoGP racer Valentino Rossi has revealed he is looking to start a Moto3 team, running Romano Fenati and possibly half-brother Luca Marini on KTM machinery in 2014.

Rumours that Rossi would become involved in a Moto3 team have been circling for months.

But in August the seven time MotoGPchampion insisted the plan was just to start a ‘VR46 Riders Academy’, to help support young Italian racers, rather than an actual team.

However Italy’s SportMediaset reports that the Italian Federation will no longer field the San Carlo-backed Team Italia squad next year, leaving 2012 race winner Fenati in need of a team.

Italy’s Sky Italia will sponsor the new VR46 project, while KTM machines are also confirmed – and an obvious choice, having won every Moto3 grand prix so far this year.

“We have joined forces with Sky in order to give the Italian riders the opportunity to be competitive and reach the highest levels,” said Rossi.

Teams wishing to enter next year’s Moto2 or Moto3 World Championships submitted their requests at the San Marino Grand Prix. Further details on the 2014 entries will be made available after the next selection meeting at the Malaysian Grand Prix, in October.

However the official MotoGP website has confirmed that the new VR46/Sky team “has already forwarded an official entry application to MotoGP governing body the FIM and commercial rights holder Dorna Sports in order to participate in the Moto3 class.”

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.