PGA Catalunya Resort, ambulance the host venue of The European Tour Qualifying School Final Stage, has been announced as the eighth European Tour Destination, joining an exclusive network of golfing facilities.

European Tour Properties is The European Tour’s portfolio of world class venues, and PGA Catalunya Resort joins London Golf Club in England; Terre Blanche Hotel Spa Golf Resort in Provence and its sister venue Golf Club St. Leon-Rot near Frankfurt, Germany; Le Golf National in Paris, where The 2018 Ryder Cup will be played; The Dutch in Holland; Diamond Country Club in Austria; and Golf & Country Club Fleesensee, near Berlin in Germany, in an expanding collection.

PGA Catalunya Resort has long enjoyed a close and multi-faceted relationship with The European Tour, including hosting the Spanish Open on two occasions and The European Tour Qualifying School Final since 2008. The venue, already part of the European Tour Courses portfolio, will now benefit from the additional kudos and global recognition which comes with becoming a Destination.

The 6,705-metre Stadium Course was designed by Spanish golf legend Angel Gallardo and Ryder Cup star Neil Coles.

Julio Delgado, Chief Executive of PGA Catalunya Resort, said: “To be selected to become part of The European Tour Properties exclusive portfolio, which comprises some of Europe’s leading clubs, is a true privilege and testament to the great legacy Angel Gallardo and Neil Coles have created here at PGA Catalunya Resort.

“Spain is blessed with many great golf courses and it is an honour to be bestowed this new recognition by The European Tour, underlining the unique golf experience our team constantly strives to offer each and every PGA Catalunya Resort visitor.”

David MacLaren, Director of Property and Venue Development for The European Tour, said: “The relationship between The European Tour and PGA Catalunya has been a long and varied one and we have witnessed its journey from fledgling concept to a world class resort that is now acclaimed internationally. The design of the golf courses by Neil and Angel is marked by genius, and around the Stadium and Tour Courses a wide array of superb facilities has been developed. The European Tour Destination label is a fitting accolade and one which marks the enormous progress of the resort.“

Deccan Chargers last chance of staying in the Indian Premier League (IPL) is over after the Indian Supreme Court Friday dismissed their plea against the termination from the high-profile league.

Last week, the Bombay High Court also withheld the BCCI’s termination decision after the franchise failed to submit a deposit of Rs 100 crore.

Prior to that ruling on October 12, the franchise had also failed to find a buyer in an auction. Though the owners had claimed otherwise with this statement just before the ruling: “This is to inform you that pursuant to its Meeting of the Board of Directors held on October 11, 2012, it was resolved to authorize the Board of Directors to sell, transfer/dispose off the Deccan Chargers Franchise business undertakings/business division of the Company to Kamla Landmarc Real Estate Holdings Private Limited.”

The BCCI terminated the franchise last month due to a severe financial crisis within the Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited, the owners of the team.

The Chargers, who won the second edition of the league in South Africa in 2009, filed a petition in the Supreme Court earlier in the day.

With the Chargers’ termination, the league is now left with eight teams. Last year Kochi Tuskers Kerala were also eliminated on account of a breach of agreement with the BCCI.

According to reports, the cricket board will announce the names of two new teams in the coming months, before the sixth edition starts next year.

National Football League (NFL) team the Jacksonville Jaguars have confirmed that they will play one home game for the next four years at Wembley Stadium in London.

The Jaguars will play one regular-season home game at Wembley in 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016. The date of the 2013 game as well as the opposing team will be announced in the months ahead.

Roger Goodell, NFL Commissioner said: “Our goal is to continue to grow the game, and this commitment by the Jacksonville Jaguars represents a major step forward in our international efforts.

““We have had a tremendously positive reaction to our sport in the UK and we’re excited that the Jaguars are seizing this opportunity to raise the profile for the team as well as the Jacksonville community.

“The NFL is committed to working with Shad Khan and the Jaguars in every respect to help them grow their brand and fan base through the NFL International Series and the many opportunities these games will offer.”

Shad Khan, Owner of the Jaguars added: “The Jacksonville Jaguars will be a bold and ambitious NFL franchise. Playing a home game in London over four seasons is consistent with our vision to introduce and grow the Jaguars brand globally, and we’re appreciative of the support from the Jacksonville business community to make this a reality and winning proposition for everyone.

“This is a priceless opportunity to share the business, tourism and lifestyle story of Jacksonville with international audiences, and I know it will give the Jaguars a unique and powerful identity within the league and beyond.”

On October 11, 2011, NFL owners approved a resolution that authorized the league to schedule regular-season games in the UK in each of the next five years, including determining the number of games per season, the venue and the competing teams.

All clubs were permitted to volunteer to play at least one regular-season game per year as a home team in the UK on an annual basis for up to five years, and the Jaguars’ proposal was selected.

In addition to the Jaguars’ 2013 game in London, the league is working to add a second game in the UK next year, with the intention of finalizing details in the coming months.

The confirmation comes after speculation the Jaguars would step in after the St. Louis Rams pulled out of their original commitment to play in London.

Nach Angaben des Magazins „sponsors“ hat DOSB-Präsident Thomas Bach im Rahmen des SpoBiS 2012 erklärt, dass eine neuerliche Bewerbung Münchens um die Winterspiele 2022 vom Deutschen Olympischen Sportbund (DOSB) mit Zurückhaltung betrachtet wird.

„Wenn wir es heute entscheiden müssten, wäre es mit fehlenden Basisinformationen verbunden. Deswegen können wir uns jetzt nicht dafür entscheiden“, sagte der IOC-Vizepräsident. Alles andere sei „Kaffeesatz-Leserei“. 

Bei der DOSB-Mitgliederversammlung im Dezember vergangenen Jahres war der Entschluss gefasst worden, nach dem Scheitern bei der Bewerbung um die Winterspiele 2018 von einer abermaligen Münchner Kandidatur für 2022 abzusehen. Denkbar ist ein neuer Versuch wohl erst 2026. 

„Ohne Antworten auf Fragen wie nach einer internationalen Chancenabwägung, wie ist die Unterstützung der Bevölkerung und der Politik und wer bezahlt’s, wäre das von Seiten des DOSB keine verantwortungsvolle Politik“, meinte Bach. „Die Chancen für München 2022 können wir jetzt nicht ausreichend einschätzen.“

The Olympic Stadium saga has continued after a man was arrested of suspicion of fraud after claims English Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur spied on Olympics officials during their stadium bid.

The arrest came as Olympic Park Legacy Company (OPLC) chairwoman Baroness Ford suggested the north London club had all 14 members of her board monitored by private investigators. 

The suspect was being questioned on Tuesday afternoon as officers conducted a string of searches in Sussex, Sutton, south west London, and Westminster. Scotland Yard are leading the investigation.

Spurs have been quick to deny reports of putting officials under surveillance.

Detectives, who have been investigating the claims since August 2011 “following allegations by West Ham and the Olympic Park Legacy Company in respect of the unlawful obtaining of information”, said the suspect was arrested at an address in Sussex.

He was taken into custody at a Sussex police station “where he remains”, a spokesman said.

Police said: “As part of their inquiries, detectives have conducted searches at both a residential and business premises in Sussex, a second private address in Sutton, and a further business address in Westminster. An amount of material was seized during the searches.”

Baroness Ford, chairman of the OPLC, head of securing a sustainable future for the stadium, told the London Assembly earlier: “The thing that I have learned in the last 12 months is that there has been all kinds of behaviour. There has been legal challenges and people have stood behind it anonymously – all kinds of things have happened.

“My board were put under surveillance by Tottenham Hotspur and the chairman of Tottenham Hotspur felt confident enough to say in the Sunday Times several months ago that all 14 members of my board were put under surveillance. The Metropolitan police are now conducting an investigation into that surveillance.

“There has been all kinds of behaviour here that I could not have anticipated which, believe me, has not been pleasant in the last 12 months.”

Tottenham rejected Baroness Ford’s comments and issued a statement through their lawyers, which read: “The club did not undertake, instruct or engage any party to conduct surveillance on any member of the OPLC Committee and we consider the making of this baseless accusation to be wholly inappropriate and irresponsible.

“We totally reject the accusation in the strongest possible terms.”

A deal with West Ham and Newham Council to use the stadium in Stratford, east London, after the 2012 Games, collapsed last month amid legal challenges, with the Government announcing that the stadium would remain in public ownership.

Tottenham had already lost out to West Ham in the race to become the OPLC’s first choice to move into the stadium after the Games.

Challenges by Tottenham and Leyton Orient, plus an anonymous complaint to the European Commission, had led to fears that court action could drag on for years while the stadium remained empty.

A new tender process is being launched by the OPLC and the showpiece venue, complete with an athletics track, will now remain in public ownership and be rented out to an anchor tenant.

Baroness Ford added: “I am expecting the unexpected because that is what the last 12 months has taught me. Our job now is to narrow as far as we possibly can the scope now for legitimate legal challenge in this next process – that is all that we can do. If people want then to be vexatious, frivolous and vindictive or whatever they want – they will do that.”

ECS committee chairman Dee Doocey said: “I personally find it appalling, and I am sure I speak for the rest of the committee, at the very idea of your board being put under surveillance is reprehensible. It almost beggars belief that this thing can happen. The idea that any board can be put under surveillance is absolutely disgraceful.”

London 2012 has revealed that more than 750,000 Olympic tickets have been sold to nearly 150,000 successful applicants in the “second chance” sales round which closed yesterday, July 3.

The start of the second of ticket sales began on June 24 on a first-come, first-served basis, and was open exclusively to applicants who did not receive any tickets in the first round sale which took place earlier this year.

According to Michael Payne, the former marketing director of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), London 2012 should be congratulated for the success of its ticketing programme, not criticised because it is oversubscribed.

Payne believes the huge criticism that London 2012 chairman Sebastian Coe and his team have come in for over its ticketing strategy has been completely unjust and that it should be celebrated as the most successful in the 115-year history of the Games.

Payne stated: “I have been intimately involved with the ticketing programmes of some 14 Olympic Summer and Winter Games. As a former director of the International Olympic Committee, I helped oversee the design and development of these Olympic ticket programmes.

The international sports community and international media looks on at the London Olympic ticketing programme, with utter amazement and total disbelief. They have never before seen an Olympic Games sell out 23 out of 25 sports [not including football], never mind achieve this, with one year to go to the Games. This does not even normally happen by the time of the Closing Ceremony.

“Never before in the 115 year history of the Olympic Games has the world ever seen such a successful Olympic ticket programme – validating I believe the IOC’s original decision to bring the 2012 Olympics to  London  to ensure full stadia packed with knowledgeable, passionate fans.”

“Normally Organising Committees are criticised for empty stadia and building too large venues that then become white elephants. Let’s be fair, and recognise the tremendous and unprecedented success of the London 2012 ticketing programme – something Britain should be justly proud of.”

Thomas Cook is now the only place for large numbers of fans to obtain tickets to the London 2012 Olympic Games after the second application ballot closed. As a Tier Two sponsor of London 2012, the package holiday provider has a number of deals for various sports during next year’s Games, including athletics, gymnastics, volleyball and water polo.

Thomas Cook’s London 2012 Partnership managing director Stephen Vaughan said: “The day of LOCOG’s second chance sales saw our busiest day so far, with more web visitors and bookings than any other day since we began.

“Athletics is top of many people’s wish list as they look to experience the iconic Olympic Stadium – and we’re adding new Games Breaks all the time but they’re selling fast – on Friday afternoon, a release of 20 new packages sold out in 40 minutes.”

The head of one of the world’s leading tennis events, therapy Madrid Open general managing director Gerard Tsobanian, sales  has proposed a major overhaul of elite competitions by calling for sets to be restricted to a maximum of eight games.

Tsobanian claimed, tadalafil during a debate hosted by Eurosport in the shadow of the French Open in Paris, that viewers were losing interest in the traditional match format, adding: “I think tennis matches are too long.

“People want to get to the drama more quickly. I would have shorter sets, and I think the 4-4 proposal is reasonable. There is a lot of competition in the market so it is important to keep the attention of the viewers. You can’t expect people to sit and watch a tennis match for eight hours.”

The Madrid Open GM did however, acknowledge that his suggestions would be difficult to push through in a sport that appears to have a complicated hierarchy and convoluted decision-making processes, saying: “Tennis has been less innovative than any sport in the world over the past century.

“We have been having this debate for 20 years, but there are too many different opinions and too many people involved in the decisions to make changes. Someone needs to step up and take action, but who’s that going to be?”

Tsobanian’s suggestion was rejected by fellow panellist Michel Grach, director of media and sponsorship at the French Tennis Federation, who added: “We have to be open to new ideas, but I believe the tennis structure is good, with five sets and two weeks for a Grand Slam.”