Infront Sports & Media has extended its deal as marketing partner of the Vierschanzentournee (Four Hills tournament).

The agreement with the German Ski Federation (DSV) and the Austrian Ski Federation (ÖSV) runs up to and including 2017/18. In addition to the overall commercialisation of the event, discount the collaboration also includes the implementation of marketing services on site.

As a partner of the two national federations, medstore Infront has been involved in the marketing of the Vierschanzentournee since 2010 and has together with the federations as well as the four venue operators worked on significantly enhancing the tradition-rich series.

Thomas Pfüller, General Secretary of the German Ski Federation, said: “Over the last four years, we have worked very well with Infront, not only in the area of marketing, but also by optimising the overall appearance of the Vierschanzentournee. The event is highly significant for the DSV and we are convinced we will tie into previous successes through this continued partnership.”

Dr. Klaus Leistner, General Secretary of the Austrian Ski Federation, said: “We are delighted to continue this proven path together with Infront over the next four years. With many years of experience and know-how in winter sports, we have a good base from which we can continue presenting the Vierschanzentournee as an international top event in the future. The eternal duel between Germany and Austria will continue to generate great tension and excitement.”

Stefan Krauss, Managing Director of Infront Austria, commented: “We are proud to have retained the Vierschanzentournee – as a highlight in winter sports – within our portfolio. Continuing to work closely with two of the most significant national federations in international skiing, we will also in the future offer a highly exclusive and international platform to sponsors.”

The Four Hills tournament began on 28 and 29 December with the qualification in Oberstdorf. The other three events will take place in Garmisch-Partenkirchen (31 December/1 January), Innsbruck (3/4 January) and Bischofshofen (5/6 January).

Major League Soccer’s (MLS) San Jose Earthquakes has begun building the steel framework for the club’s future office building and locker rooms at their new stadium site Tuesday morning.

Recently signed head coach Mark Watson, general manager John Doyle and president Dave Kaval signed the first crossbeam, which was placed on the west end of the structure. Representatives from Devcon Construction and Schuff Steel Company were also on hand to celebrate the occasion.

“Today is another milestone in our construction process as we continue to build our new home,” Kaval said. “We wanted to commemorate our future team building by including two of the stakeholders who will be tied to that facility, our head coach and general manager. The next step that fans will see in December is the erection of the stadium’s superstructure.”

The Earthquakes’ new 18,000-seat stadium will be located on Coleman Ave next to San Jose International Airport. The stadium was designed by renowned stadium architecture firm 360 Architecture – designers of Safeco Field and MetLife Stadium.  The stadium will feature a European-style roof design that was inspired by many stadia in Europe, including Craven Cottage (Home of Fulham Football Club) and Loftus Road (Home of Queens Park Rangers).

The United States Golf Association (USGA) have flirted with the idea of bringing the US Open back to Merion, if the club and local residents are happy to do so.

The US Open returns to Merion for the first time since 1981due to problems with the infrastructure at the venue.

The practice range is located on the West Course and the gardens of adjacent houses are being used for corporate hospitality, but USGA executive director Mike Davis would be happy to return to the club.

Davis said he had “not seen anything to say we would not come back here,” but added: “Personally I’d already like to see us return. I’m not sure Merion wants us to return.”

With the range a long way from the first and 11th tees which will be used in the first two rounds, players will be shuttled between the two locations, although fears of players missing their tee-times remain.

Graeme McDowell warned: “If you want 50 minutes hitting golf balls, you’re going to have to be getting out of your car literally an hour and 30 minutes before your tee time.”

The tournament committee will have some leeway in assessing penalties or disqualification for late arrivals on the tee, but Davis stressed that responsibility remained with the players.

“We go through this whether it’s at Pebble Beach, Bethpage or wherever,” Davis added. “We have a wonderful transportation system set up. They can get from point A to point B without traffic. That’s not going to be an issue.

“But if we erred, then we would make provisions to where the player wouldn’t be penalised.”

Meanwhile, the USGA are again refusing to change their policy on preferred lies despite the adverse weather which has saturated the course this week.

USGA vice-president Tom O’Toole said: “It’s been a long-standing philosophical point of view from the USGA to not adopt that local rule (allowing preferred lies) in our national championships.

“And the current championship committee is consistent with that long-standing philosophical point of view.”

Cleveland Browns owner Randy Lerner, who also owns Premier League side Aston Villa, is in potential talks with Tennessee businessman Jimmy Haslam to invest in the NFL franchise.

“In connection with current rumors and press inquiries, I can report that I’ve been approached by Mr. Jimmy Haslam, who is interested in making an investment in the Cleveland Browns,” said Lerner.

“We are currently in negotiations and both sides have agreed to keep that dialogue and its details private. Given that any transaction would require league approval, care has been taken so that this process will not be disruptive to the organization, in particular the football team, as it prepares for the upcoming season.”

Lerner took control of the Browns in October 2002 following the death of his father, Al, and the team has failed to make the playoffs since losing in the wild-card round of that season.

The Browns are worth an estimated $977 million, 20th among the NFL’s 32 teams, according to Forbes.

Haslam, whose brother Bill is the governor of Tennessee, has been a minority owner in the Pittsburgh Steelers since 2008.

Paul Vaughan the man charged with running the Rugby World Cup 2015 events believes the key to selling out the tournament is a flexible pricing structure, doctor which could see tickets on sale for as little as £7 and the British public’s love of big events will help ensure that Rugby World Cup 2015 is a 3 million seat sell-out.

Speaking on the first day of the sell-out Rugby Expo 2011 at Twickenham, viagra Vaughan, click former commercial head of the RFU, told a standing-room-only session that marketing of the event would focus first on the 9million active rugby followers in England but that the “British big event mentality” and fans from the rest of the UK and overseas would ensure the success of the tournament.

“The British love a big event, just look at the way that the Olympics have sold out. Even sports like handball – which is not that popular here, sold out almost immediately,” he said.

“Compared to the recent New Zealand World Cup our challenge is to make England 2015 not bigger – the size of the country will determine that – but to ensure that it generates a lot of cash for the world game and that it is a fantastic experience for fans,” he said.

“We want to ensure a long term legacy for the game and you will see some activity in the next few months here.

“But, importantly, we will also be working with emerging nations such as Georgia and Spain to help them achieve the biggest possible impact from the event.”

Vaughan was speaking on Day One of Rugby Expo 2011, the leading conference, exhibition and networking event for rugby worldwide.

Rugby Expo 2011, supported by the IRB, RFU, SRU, Premiership Rugby, the RFL, RaboDirect PRO12 and other leading rugby bodies, attracted hundreds of key decision makers to Twickenham for a packed programme of conference sessions’ and specialists workshops.

iSportconnect are also the official networking tool for the expo which allows the delegates to connect and schedule meetings. iSportconnect throughout the expo are doing live updates via their twitterfeed and on their website.

John Hockey, chairman of Rugby Ventures which operates the event, added: “There has been a fantastic response from the rugby community.

“We have been delighted with the way that the leading clubs and Unions have embraced the opportunity presented by Rugby Expo and look forward to building on the platform the 2011 event has provided.”

Pakistan cricketers Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif have been left distraught after been found guilty today of their part in a “spot-fixing” scam that has left the sport in taters.

The men will be sentenced later this week and Butt faces up to seven years in jail or a fine. They have already been banned from playing by the International Cricket Council for at least five years,

Former captain Butt, 27, and opening fast bowler Asif, 28, had pleaded innoncence to the charges in the past to cheating and conspiracy by accepting corrupt payments to bowl no balls at pre-arranged times during a Lords test. It has now been revealed that Asif had pleaded guilty to the charges.

But a jury at London’s Southwark Crown Court found Butt guilty of both charges and Asif guilty of conspiring to cheat. They plotted to deliberately bowl no-balls during a Lord’s Test match against England last summer.

Spot-betting involves gamblers staking money on specific details of sporting encounters such as the exact timing of the first throw-in during a football match or, as in this case, when a no-ball will be bowled.

After deliberating for nearly 17 hours, the jury unanimously convicted Butt and Asif of conspiracy to cheat. The jurors also found Butt guilty of conspiracy to accept corrupt payments by a majority of 10 to two.

The jury has not yet reached a verdict on whether Asif was also guilty of conspiracy to accept corrupt payments, and is continuing its deliberations.

Butt and Asif were charged after a tabloid newspaper alleged they took bribes to bowl deliberate no-balls.

The court heard the players, along with fast bowler Mohammad Amir, conspired with UK-based sports agent Mazhar Majeed, 36, to fix parts of the Lord’s Test last August.

Three intentional no-balls were delivered during the match between Pakistan and England from August 26 to 29 last year.

Prosecutors said Butt and Asif had been motivated by greed to “contaminate” a match watched by millions of people and “betray” their team, the Pakistan Cricket Board and the sport itself.

Prosecutor Aftab Jafferjee QC said the case “revealed a depressing tale of rampant corruption at the heart of international cricket”.

Following the verdict, former Pakistan cricket captain Asif Iqbal told BBC 5Live it was a “sad day for cricket” and said the case would send out a “huge message”.

Former England fast bowler Angus Fraser said it could be a “watershed” for cricket.

“It shows young cricketers that there is a consequence to their behaviour. In the past players have been banned and then they have come back,” he told BBC 5Live.

“The International Cricket Council has got to support the players, see these signs and help them out of predicaments, but also see (that) if players do commit these offences they are punished severely.”

London 2012 Organising Committee (LOCOG) has confirmed that troops serving in the UK’s Armed Forces are being given the chance to win tickets for next year’s Olympic Games in ‘Tickets For Troops’ initiative.

The share-out will allow 10,000 tickets to be given to members of the Army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force and their families and LOCOG chairman Sebastian Coe said he was “absolutely delighted” troops could receive tickets.

Tickets For Troops is being funded by London 2012’s Ticketshare scheme, which sees proceeds from prestige hospitality seats used to provide tickets to worthy causes. All serving members of the Armed Forces and those medically discharged since the start of military action in Afghanistan in 2001 are eligible to register for tickets, which must be done online at the Tickets For Troops website.

Coe said: “Through the sale of our prestige tickets we are enabling the donation of tickets to a number of deserving causes – it would be unimaginable that we wouldn’t include our armed service personnel.”

Tickets For Troops chairman Lord Marland added: “This support makes a real difference to the troops who are doing such an extraordinary job during these difficult times.”

In addition, young people are also to be given the chance to win free Olympic tickets in return for taking part in sport by joining in the Sportivate mass participation scheme.

Sportivate aims to give 14 to 25-year-olds the chance of six to eight weeks of sports coaching and is designed to get 300,000 youngsters playing sport.

Sport England chief executive Jennie Price said: “Lots of young people think sport isn’t for them. I would like them to have the chance to discover whether there is a sport they really enjoy, so this programme is all about choice.

“Everyone who takes part will receive high-quality coaching – giving them the confidence and skills which will make them want to keep playing in the future.“

London’s bid to host the 2015 World Athletics Championships has been abandoned over the uncertain future of the 2012 Olympic Stadium.

The capital could instead be put forward to host the event in 2017.

The Government was unable to commit to a 2015 bid because a number of the tenders for the stadium have plans that would see the running track removed.

The decision means Beijing is the sole remaining bidder and they should be confirmed as hosts later this month.

The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) will announce their final decision on 20 November.

Some bids for the use of the stadium post-2012 Games, including the one from West Ham and Newham Council, include the retention of the track but others, including the one from American sports company AEG and Tottenham Hotspur, have plans that would see it removed.

UK Athletics chairman Ed Warner said: “Obviously we are disappointed not to be pursuing our 2015 bid, especially after securing the support of both the Government and the Mayor of London.

“However, we need to present the IAAF with a bid that is free of any uncertainties.

“That is not something we can commit to until the process regarding the future of the stadium, which we fully support, is concluded.”

IAAF President Lamine Diack added: “We fully understand and respect the reasons for UKA moving their bid from 2015 to 2017. We are delighted that London are still in the race.”