Deccan Chronicle Holdings Ltd (DCHL) today issued a tender notice inviting bids from prospective buyers for its financially stricken IPL franchise, impotent | Deccan Chargers.

The Indian cricket board’s (BCCI) working committee on Monday decided to allow DCHL to go ahead and issue tender notice in the leading national dailies.

According to the tender notice, prostate | “under this invitation to tender issued by DCHL, sale the winning bidder will acquire from the DCHL on an “as is where is” basis the right to own and operate the IPL team currently known as Deccan Chargers, which is and will continue to be based in Hyderabad and which competes in the Indian Premier League and which has the opportunity (if applicable and subject to qualification) to compete in each and any CLT20 which is staged from 2013 onwards“.

The term “as is where is” means that the new buyer will have to use the name Deccan Chargers and will have to clear the liabilities of the current owner.

The invitation to tender and the bid document can be acquired from the BCCI office in Mumbai from September 7 upon a payment of Rs 5 lakh by demand draft or pay order favouring DCHL.

According to the IPL constitution, 5 per cent of the bidding amount will be acquired by the BCCI.

The last day for submitting the bid will be 12 noon on September 13 and the winning bid will be announced on the same day.

The new potential buyer may have to pay the salary of the Deccan Chargers’ players for the fifth edition of the IPL.

The move will also help consortium of banks, which had loaned out significant amount to DCHL, to recover their money since the name of the team will remain Deccan Chargers.

Earlier in June, DCHL had appointed investment banking institution, Religare to find a potential buyer but they were unable to find one, who would readily buy the team with its financial liabilities.

The National Football League (NFL) is to refurbish football fields in 15 cities spending $2.5 million in grants by doing so.

The money will go to schools, parks and other facilities in Atlanta; Spartanburg, S.C.; Chicago; Alexandria, Ky.; Grafton, Ohio; Pueblo, Colo.; Detroit; West Allis, Minn.; New Orleans; Newark, N.J.; Philadelphia; Penn Hills, Pa.; Clearwater, Fla.; Madison, Tenn.; and Washington.

Teams whose markets will benefit from the grants are the Falcons, Panthers, Bears, Bengals, Browns, Broncos, Lions, Packers, Saints, Giants, Eagles, Steelers, Buccaneers, Titans and Redskins.

Commissioner Roger Goodell calls community fields “the pillars of neighborhoods across the country, places where families can `play 60′ together in a safe environment.”

The program is a partnership between the league and the Local Initiatives Support Corporation.

The Terrible Towel, a yellow and black cloth, signature of the Pittsburgh Steelers fans has been in the middle of a lawsuit between the Steelers, compatriots a disabled school and Eugene Berry Enterprise LLC about trademark breach.

The lawsuit alleges that Eugene Berry Enterprise LLC filed a trademark application in May for “The Terrible T-Shirt” and had been selling the shirts emblazoned with those words and “A Pittsburgh Original,” court documents said.

Attorneys for the Allegheny Valley School, which owns the Terrible Towel trademark, asked the company to withdraw the application before its owner attempted to have more of the shirts printed, the documents said. It has been selling the shirts since February, according to the suit.

The suit, filed on Monday, alleges trademark infringement, unfair competition, fraud and other offenses. It seeks damages including profits from the T-shirts, attorneys’ fees and other expenses.

The late sportscaster Myron Cope invented The Terrible Towel in the mid-1970s. In 1996, he gave the trademark to the Allegheny Valley School, where his autistic son lived. The Steelers have an exclusive license to market Terrible Towel-marked items.

Organisers of next year’s London Olympics (LOCOG) have announced that most of the money for the first round of Olympics tickets sales will be debited from ticket applicants’ bank accounts by next week.

LOCOG said 60 per cent of cards would be debited by midnight on Wednesday, the “vast majority” by 31 May, and the process completed by 10 June. The payment process had been due to begin on 10 May, but so far no cards had been debited.

LOCOG revealed that the second round of sales, in late June, will initially offer unsuccessful first round ticket applicants the first chance to buy those tickets still available on a first come, first served basis before the public who did not originally apply are able to buy tickets.

Initial applicants will be contacted before 24 June to confirm if they have been successful in buying any of the 6.6 million tickets available, and which ones they have been allocated.

The e-mail sent out to these applicants stated that Visa payments would only be taken for successful applications, and that if cards had been lost or stolen, or there were any issues with collection of payment, applicants would be contacted about it by 10 June.

LOCOG deputy chairman Keith Mills said they were trying to make sure the system was “fair and even” and that people were informed at the same time about whether their application had been successful.

He told BBC Radio 5 Live: “One of the problems when you are doing something on this scale is if you tell one person they’ve got tickets, they tell their friends and suddenly we have a switchboard jammed with people – so we are trying to do this extremely thoroughly.”

“It’s going brilliantly well – it’s very complex, but it is going brilliantly well,” he added.

He added that hundreds of thousands of unsold tickets would be available to buy later in the year.

This year’s Peace and Sport Image of the Year Award has been given to the doubles tennis team formed by Indian Rohan Bopanna and Pakistani Ul-Haq Aisam Qureshi, it has been announced.

The award, presented by the Peace and Sport organisation in partnership with SPORTELMonaco and Getty images, is given to the image that best showed the ability of sport to advance peace in the world.

Hindu Roham and Muslim Aisam have been playing together for three years and actively campaign for peace between the two nations through their partnership, displaying the slogan “Stop War, Start Tennis” on their gear.

President and founder of Peace and Sport Joel Bouzou said: “Sport’s greatest victory is not measured in terms of medals. It is measured by its ability to positively change people’s lives and bring them hope. And that’s exactly what Rohan and Aisam succeed in doing.”

Gold Coast Suns have appointed chief operating officer Andrew Travis as the AFL club’s new chief executive.

Travis had been acting CEO at the Suns following the departure of Travis Auld to the AFL’s executive last month.

The 44-year-old, who has been COO at the Suns since their inception, will take up the role immediately and lead the hunt for a new head coach following last week’s sacking of Guy McKenna.

Travis said he was looking forward to taking on the role.

“It is a very exciting time to be at the Suns, with a playing list that is the envy of the league, and a great stadium,” he said in a statement.

Suns chairman John Witheriff said Travis had beaten over 100 applicants to the position.

He comes to the job with a deep understanding of our club, a passion for the next stage of our journey, and ready to hit the ground running as CEO,” Witheriff said.

“Andrew has the respect of the club and the industry, and his strong relationships across the AFL will deliver for the Gold Coast Suns.”

National Rugby League club Penrith Panthers have agreed to play one home game in Bathurst for the next five years in a major boost to New South Wales rugby league.

The Panthers and Bathurst council on Friday penned a new deal to take professional rugby league to Carrington Park from 2014 until at least 2018.

Next year’s match in Bathurst will be the first top-level game played in the region since the City-Country fixture in 2001.

Panthers spokesman Justin Pascoe said the decision to shift a game a season away from Penrith had not been taken lightly.

“A lot of due diligence has taken place to ensure we are doing the best thing for both the game and the community,” he said.

“We are not going to emulate a copy and paste mentality as happens across other clubs and codes where we simply take a game away for commercial gain only.

“We are committing to the community of Bathurst and its surrounding communities for five years and the game itself will be a by-product of a whole raft of initiatives.

“These initiatives will focus on developing the game of rugby league in regional NSW, focusing on the development of players in Group 10 plus the development of coaches in the region through a coach the coaches program.

“We will also be tailoring merchandise and membership offerings specifically to the region allowing for a target approach to fan engagement, plus we will leverage the Bathurst leagues club, which is one of our greatest assets, to host several functions both community and sports based throughout the contract period.”

Hyundai has announced they will be a Super Bowl advertiser for the seventh consecutive year and will release two game-day ads during the first and fourth quarters of Super Bowl XLVIII on February 2, 2014.

Hyundai will open its Super Bowl advertising showcase with a 30-second spot titled “Dad’s Sixth Sense,” during the first quarter. In a sketch that any dad can relate to, the spot dramatizes the near-misses and saves of everyday parenting, giving a dramatic demonstration of the all-new Genesis and its Automatic Emergency Braking capabilities – one of the many features included in Genesis’ comprehensive suite of safety services, the Sensory Surround Safety System.

“Nice,” a 30-second in-game spot running in the fourth quarter, is inspired and made possible by the new sporty, compact Elantra. The humorous spot follows a young comedic talent in an escalating game of compliments between two identical Elantras, effectively showcasing the innovative performance, style and technology features of Hyundai’s new compact sedan.

“Cars have become more than just a means of transportation – they play an active role in many parts of our lives,” said Steve Shannon, vice president of Marketing, Hyundai Motor America. “Our creative campaign this year highlights how Hyundai continues to be ‘there for you’ and your family. Whether it’s safely reacting to unexpected surprises on the road in the premium Genesis or dialing up the fun in an Elantra, Hyundai is an ideal driving companion.”

“Each year we challenge ourselves to come up with a new, inspiring way to showcase Hyundai during the biggest TV event of the year, while staying true to our audience and what’s most relevant to them,” said Greg Braun, Executive Creative Director, INNOCEAN USA. “This year we were able to take two different approaches to our spots – from fun and comedic, to endearing and sentimental – while still focusing on the essence of Hyundai. Our focus always has been how the Hyundai vehicle inspires and enables our consumer – whether you’re a first-time car owner or looking to upgrade into your first true premium car.”