The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has upheld UEFA’s decision to remove FC Sion from the Europa League after the side fielded a number of ineligible players in their play-off match versus Celtic in August.

Having lost their appeal, the club must now pay UEFA 40,000 Swiss francs ($42,645) in legal costs.

FC Sion were originally removed from the tournament on September 2nd and had their appeal thrown out by the European association.

The Swiss club immediately launched another appeal through the civil courts in a move barred by FIFA and UEFA rules with the same lawyer who secured the landmark Bosman ruling in 1995, Jean-Marc Bosman.

Sion secured an injunction in their favour and UEFA was ordered to pay 1,000 Swiss francs ($1,066) for each day that the ruling was not honoured, but the Governing body announced it would only recognise the decision of the CAS.

A ruling in favour of FC Sion would have been a blow to football’s legal system but CAS ultimately back the establishment.

UEFA has responded to the ruling with relief, which came just a day before latest Europa League draw. “This respect of the rules has to be applied at all levels: of players, clubs, leagues, and in all competitions, in order to preserve what football stands for”.

This may not be the end of the matter, however. Sion will have 30 days upon CAS’ publication of the reasoning for the decision to appeal at Switzerland’s Supreme Court and overturn this latest verdict.

“The club will soon go to the Swiss Federal Tribunal. The CAS does not offer any guarantee of independence (in particular, how it chooses arbitrators) and violates several standards of national and international law”.

The club has also already issued a formal complaint to the European Commission.

Sudan could be banned from international competition by football’s governing body FIFA after a row between the government and the country’s football association.

The government’s Sport Commission had said that current Sudan FA president Kamal Shaddad and several other candidates could not run for election this month.

The decision to bar Shaddad from running for re-election is because he has already held the position for two terms, the limit to holding an international  football job recognised by the Commission.

Under strict FIFA rules, government interference in football is strictly prohibited and has said Sudan now faces a global suspension.

A FIFA statement read: “Any election without respecting the SFA (Sudanese Football Association) statutes and/or under governmental interference will not be recognised by FIFA. IN addition, such interference may lead to sanctions such as a suspension or expulsion.”

Shaddad has said: “They decided to stop me running for re-election as President. That is against FIFA’s fundamental rules.

“FIFA says they do not approve of this situation, and the Sports Commission must reserve its decision or face suspension.”

 

The owner of National Basketball Association (NBA) franchise the Dallas Mavericks, Mark Cuban, has been cleared by Major League Baseball (MLB) to make a bid for the Texas Rangers, his lawyer has announced.

Cuban hasn’t yet decided if he is going to bid for the Mavericks in an auction taking place on 4 August, but if he did, he would still need the support of the 30 MLB team owners to complete the sale.

Cuban’s lawyer, Clifton R. Jessup Jr., said: “The biggest obstacle my client has is we have 12 days to do all the due diligence.”

A group led by club president Nolan Ryan and Pittsburgh sports attorney Chuck Greenberg will lead the bid.

And while Jessup Jr. said Cuban would rather submit his own bid, he would be willing to team up with Ryan and Greenberg to speed the process up.

 

Mandy Koukash has revealed that she has lost out in her bid to take over the Bradford Bulls after it was submitted to the Odsal club last week. 

Mandy, cialis who is the wife of Salford Red Devil’s owner Marvan, adiposity took to twitter to reveal that her bid was not “the winning one” and that her “main focus was to help the Bulls” after a series of unsuccessful matches and events. 

The Bulls who had six points deducted after entering administration for the second time in two years and who also cut costs by sending Nick Scruton and Jarrod Sammut to their neighbouring club Wakefield now face an uncertain future. 

Mandy commented on the situation: “As I understand, the RFL has nothing to do with the decision. It is based on the highest bid to pay the old debt.” 

She also added that she would consider “working with the winning bidder”.

Havas Sports & Entertainment South Africa has been appointed as the official ‘Sportainment’ agency to manage the commercial partner and match day presentation requirements of the 2014 ICC World Twenty20 tournament, to take place in Bangladesh in March this year. 

The agency competed against several other international companies as well as local suppliers for the appointment. 

“The ICC has consistently recognised the rising significance placed on the effective integration of various content streams combined with the need to create new ideas that resonate with audiences globally,” says MD of Havas Sports & Entertainment South Africa, Andrew Ross. 

Dubbed ‘Sportainment’, the combination of sports and entertainment features the seamless integration of a variety of content streams as the result of careful planning, coordination and expertise. These include key match information, public communications, sponsor rights deliverables, announcements, entertainment and commercial partner activation opportunities; which all blend into a layered environment surrounding the core game itself.

“On a global scale there are few companies that have experience with this type of integration, whilst our teams have successfully delivered these services into global tournaments such as the Cricket World Cup, ICC Champions Trophy, the Indian Premier League and the CLT20 Champions League and in past years to Cricket South Africa,” said HS&E South Africa Managing Director Andrew Ross. “Havas Sports & Entertainment’s appointment is evidence of the value we have been able to add to other tournaments in the past.” 

He explains that it is important to create an environment where cricket lovers can have fun while watching the game, thereby enhancing the match day experience for in-venue spectators as well as television viewers. 

“We are truly excited about this appointment, and are determined to further advance the concept of ‘Sportainment’ globally in cricket, and in other major sporting events,” concludes Ross.

The Dubai Sport Council have agreed a partnership with the Dubai Autodome to promote the venue.

Dubai Sport Council secretary general Dr.Ahmad Al Sharif hosted Dubai Autodrome general manager Richard Birch, along with the venue’s Operations Manager Abdulla Lanjawi at the Sport Council offices in Dubai. 

The meeting was part of ongoing co-operation between the two organisations, with the aim sustaining promotion of the UAE’s first purpose built race circuit to the community as a whole.

Mr.Birch briefed Dr.Al Shariff about the activities which will be taking place at the Autodrome during the next several months, of which the Dunlop 24 Hours of Dubai is the international highlight of the calendar at the Motorcity venue.

Dr.Al Shariff pointed out that more has to be done to educate the community about all activities at Autodrome – which include motorsport from grassroots level to UAE national level – but also the fact that running, skating and cycling are also on offer at the venue free of charge.

It was agreed that co-operation between the two organisations will be ramped up in a joint effort to continue to promote the venue and its activities.

Mr.Birch commented, “It was an honour to meet Dubai Sport Council secretary general Dr.Ahmad Al Sharif who showed genuine interest in our venue and reaffirmed the council’s commitment to help further promote Dubai Autodrome and our activities in the future.”

Prague in Czech Republic has made its way back on the European Tour, anabolics the first time since 1997, medstore with the announcement it will host the inaugural D+D Real Czech Masters at the Albatross Golf Resort from August 21-24, prostate 2014.

The tournament, which will carry a €1 million prize fund in 2014, will be held for at least the next five years and will be promoted by Relmost AS, who have also promoted the D+D Real Czech Challenge Open on the European Challenge Tour for the past two years.

Albatross Golf Resort was voted the Golf Resort of the Year in both 2011 and 2012, while the 7,315 yards (6,689 metres) par 72 Championship Course was judged the best golf course in the Czech Republic by Golf Digest USA.

Keith Waters, Chief Operating Officer of The European Tour, said: “We are naturally delighted to have reached an agreement to host the D+D Real Czech Masters for the next five years, which is a real commitment and statement of intent by the sponsors and promoters.

“Albatross Golf Resort is an excellent venue worthy of hosting a European Tour event. The Tour always strives to stage tournaments in different cities and I’m sure the people of Prague will enjoy watching some of Europe’s best golfers in action, just as our Members will enjoy their visit to Albatross Golf Resort.”

Dr. Ji?í Šimán?, Owner of Albatross Golf Resort, said: “I was very pleased to hear that The European Tour is coming back to the Czech Republic, and it is a great honour and privilege for us that Albatross Golf Resort has been chosen as the host venue. We have hosted the Ladies European Tour twice in the past, and have already started preparations for this important event.

“We will do our utmost to make this tournament successful, and I hope it will become a permanent part of The European Tour.  We all are really looking forward to it.”

The last time the Czech Republic hosted a European Tour event was in 2011, when England’s Oliver Fisher succeeded Swede Peter Hanson as the Czech Open champion in the city of ?eladná.

The only previous occasion on which Prague has hosted a European Tour was in 1997, when Prague Karlstein GC hosted the Czech Open.