Mumbai-based RN Sports Club, backed by a celebrity and a businessman, has revealed their intentions to purchase the Deccan chargers team outright and bypass the bidding process.

The club located in South Mumbai is willing to pay Rs 9-11 billion ($198 million) for the team and will have a meeting with Deccan Chronicle tomorrow.

According to the club’s marketing head Ankush Tripathi, the BCCI has also been informed of the intention.

“There is a clause in the bid document which allows a party to buy the franchise if the owners agree. We do not want to go through the bid process. RN Sports Club management is constantly in conversations with the BCCI and the Deccan Chargers management for this deal,” he tells Indiantelevision.com.

Tripathy believes the breakeven period can be achieved in three years. “The team will retain the same name and be based in Hyderabad. As per the terms in the bid document, this cannot be changed,” he says.

The club’s promoter is Vijay Barhate. The aim of R.N. Sports club is to promote cricket. “We have been wanting to purchase an IPL team since IPL-4, as we already conduct various successful talent hunt camps at an all India school level. We have also done talent hunt camps aboard, We have cricket coaching centres in several places including Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur. We also have cricket academies in Mumbai. The aim of purchasing our own team is to promote the young cricketers of nation.”

Interestingly R.N. Sports Club had a deal with Rajasthan Royals for running a talent hunt. Tripathi says that the MoU expired and so the club chose not to renew it. Earlier Rajasthan Royals had said that it had terminated the deal over non payment of dues which Tripathi flatly denied. For him, owning a franchise is the next step.

Other names doing the rounds who could bid for the franchise include Videcon, Adani Group and former Satyam COO Srini Raju who is now Peepul Capital co-founder, chairman.

Following the 15th annual International Federation of American Football (IFAF) Congress held in Austin, nurse Texas, cialis a new governance structure will be adopted that will change the face of the sport internationally.

A total of 33 member countries from six continents attended the IFAF Congress and agreed to put in place a new structure that will see IFAF Europe, IFAF Asia, IFAF Africa, IFAF Americas and IFAF Oceania replace the existing continental federations. Elections were also held to identify individuals who will take IFAF forward on those continents.

IFAF President Tommy Wiking was reelected for a third term by a unanimous vote and will head a new five-person IFAF Presidium and a 12-person IFAF Executive Board, which includes the Chairmen of the continental federations and two members of the IFAF Athletes Commission.

“I am delighted that the IFAF members have again elected me as their President and put trust in my guidance and leadership,” said Wiking. “This is a very important time for IFAF with a period of change that is for the betterment of the game and the appeal we have made to earn International Olympic Committee (IOC) recognition.”

Elected alongside Wiking as members of the IFAF Presidium were Senior Vice President Makoto Kaneuji (Japan), Vice President Roope Noronen (Finland), Treasurer Scott Hallenbeck (USA) and Secretary Elesa Zehndorfer (Great Britain).

Elected to the IFAF Executive Board as Chairmen of their respective continental federations were Michael Eschlboeck (IFAF Europe), Augustine Okoye (IFAF Africa), Pierre Robinette (IFAF Americas), Dr. KK Park (IFAF Asia) and Michael Ryan (IFAF Oceania).

The IFAF family of international federations swelled to 64 nations as Kuwait and Puerto Rico were welcomed as new members.

IFAF members also elected chairmen for Officiating, Competitions and Technical Committees along with additional positions within each IFAF continental federation.

IFAF member federations present at the 2012 IFAF Congress were: American Samoa, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Guatemala, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Kuwait, Mexico, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Norway, Panama, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Turkey and USA.

capsule helvetica, viagra cialis sans-serif;”>Premier League giants Liverpool FC and Manchester City will go head to head with the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles and the NBA’s Memphis Grizzlies in New York on 27th September. 

The four Beyond Sport Award nominees will be seeking an immediate financial boost for their respective foundations as they present to a distinguished audience of more than 200 influential figures gathered at Yankee Stadium for Beyond Sport United.? ?

Liverpool, cheap Manchester City, the Philadelphia Eagles and the Memphis Grizzlies have won through to the final stage of the Beyond Sport Award for Sport Team of the Year from a field of more than 30 nominated teams, each selected for their outstanding community work. 

In New York they will be stating their case to an audience of some of sport’s most influential figures, including NFL team owners, the presidents of franchises from across the US major leagues and representatives of some of the Premier League’s top clubs – more than 80 teams from around the world in all.? ?The four teams will be hoping to secure an immediate boost of more than $10,000 for their respective foundations by impressing that audience. 

StubHub, Presenting Partner of Beyond Sport United, will provide $50 Stand Dollars to every delegate in attendance, which the delegate will then award to the project whose presentation most impresses him or her. That means a total of more than $10,000 will be on immediate offer to the four teams’ foundations.? ?

Commented Alison Perris, Head of Community Relations for StubHub, said: “StubHub believes in the importance of giving back to the community and is proud to support and honour the excellent work these teams have done. We hope that by putting the power into the hands of delegates it will help to raise awareness of these programs and spark new ideas so sports teams can continue to both act as role models in their community as well as enact positive change.”? 

Mark Chester, Family Officer at Liverpool FC, said: “Although a global business, we are also still a community football club, and we work hard to support the people of our communities. Our Tactics 4 Families project specifically aims to inspire and encourage strong family relationships, and we are delighted that this much needed and innovative programme has been recognised by Beyond Sport as an example of pioneering community work. We are very excited about the prospect of presenting the project at Beyond Sport United and hearing about the excellent work of the other nominees.” ?

Jenny Koltknow, Executive Director of the Memphis Grizzlies Charitable Foundation, added: “We are grateful to Beyond Sport for the opportunity to discuss Grizzlies TEAM UP with this esteemed group, and we congratulate our fellow shortlisted teams Liverpool, Manchester City and the Eagles. Grizzlies TEAM UP has changed so many lives in Memphis and made it possible for mentors and kids from vastly different backgrounds to form lifelong friendships. We hope to both inform and inspire members of the audience to support mentoring.”

Sarah Martinez-Helfman, Executive Director, Eagles Youth Partnership, explained: “Whether we play a sport with our feet, heads or hands, we all play with heart and the Philadelphia Eagles hearts are in it to win it. $10,000 would provide eyeglasses and a new book to more than 300 children through our Eagles Eye Mobile programme and that would be a huge win for kids.”? ?

Nick Keller, Founder of Beyond Sport, added: “Sports teams don’t just have an impact on the morale of the cities they are in. They have the potential to play a significant role in social change. These four teams are of the highest quality and the StubHub funds will be a significant boost for some fantastic community projects.” ?

Major League Baseball (MLB), the National Basketball Association (NBA); the National Football League (NFL); the National Hockey League (NHL); Major League Soccer (MLS); and the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) are all signed on as Founding Supporters of Beyond Sport United – the first time the major US sports leagues have collaborated around the issue of sport and social change.? ?

Sports Illustrated has backed the initiative as Official Media Partner.? ?Beyond Sport United is also partnered with executive search firm Heidrick & Struggles.? ?The Beyond Sport Summit and Awards 2011, the third annual gathering of its kind, will take place in Cape Town, South Africa from 5th – 8th December.

order helvetica, cialis clean, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 15px; text-align: left;”>

Federal prosecutors have dropped all the remaining charges against Barry Bonds on Wednesday, days after a judge upheld the all-time home runs leader conviction on an obstruction of justice count.

The U.S. attorney’s office in San Francisco filed court papers informing U.S. District Judge Susan Illston it was dismissing the three charges of making false statements still pending against Bonds. A jury deadlocked on the three counts at Bonds’ trial in April.

The deadline for prosecutors to start the process for a retrial on those charges was about 30 days away. Now, Bonds won’t face a new trial on accusations that he lied to a grand jury back in 2003 when he testified that he never knowingly received steroids or human growth hormone from trainer Greg Anderson, and that no one other than his doctors ever injected him with anything.

Bonds’ lawyer, Allen Ruby, said that his client’s legal team was focused on the slugger’s sentencing hearing in December. Ruby declined to discuss whether Bonds intended to appeal the obstruction conviction.

A majority of jurors this year voted to acquit him on charges he lied when he denied knowingly taking steroids and human growth hormone. The jurors voted 11-1 to convict him for denying that anyone other than his doctor ever injected him.

Bonds faces a maximum of 10 years in prison, though federal guidelines recommend a sentence of 15 to 21 months.

Prosecutors on Wednesday dismissed the counts “without prejudice,” meaning they could reinstate the charges before the statute of limitations expires. However, that’s a routine legal maneuver when dismissing criminal charges and dropped cases are rarely reinstated.

Attorney William Keane, who represented Graham, said it’s highly unlikely prosecutors will reinstate the charges, and that he expects Bonds won’t go to prison even though prosecutors are expected to argue for that.

“Given that the core part of the case hung and given the other sentences in the BALCO cases,” Keane said, “Bonds has a reasonably good chance of avoiding prison time.”

Peter Keane, a Golden Gate University law professor, said he was “a little surprised” that prosecutors decided to drop the charge on which jurors voted 11-1 to convict Bonds.

“But at the end of the day, he’s a convicted felon and was shown to have obstructed a federal grand jury,” Keane said. “The prosecutors won.”

More than 250,000 people who applied for London 2012 tickets have missed out entirely after the vast majority of money was taken from accounts at midnight last night, May 31.

Among some of the high profile unlucky applicants were triple Olympic champion Bradley Wiggins and the Mayor of London Boris Johnson, with the former stating on Twitter: “No Olympic tickets for the wife and kids to watch Team Pursuit, oh well sorry kids going to have to watch dad on the telly!”

Johnson was another to miss out on Olympic tickets in the random ballet though he claimed that this showed the ticket system was fair and really was a lottery, adding: “Clearly it’s been a massively popular thing and there’s no surprise the event has attracted so much demand for tickets but I’m massively disappointed and cheesed off.

“I am proud to be British. No other country or culture in the world would have a situation where the Mayor of the host city goes into a ballot for tickets for his family and gets rejected. I’m more than eager now to resubmit in July and have another crack and I fail I will reapply again. By hook or by crook I’m going to get into these Olympics.”

In total, there were 20 million ticket applications from 1.8 million people for the 6.6 million tickets available to the public via the controversial ballot, but London 2012 has claimed that the quarter-of-a-million that have been left ticketless will be contacted by email and offered an ‘exclusive window’ later this month to buy tickets for events where demand was relatively low.

London 2012 chairman Sebastian Coe said: “Of course I understand that people who have not got tickets this morning will be extremely disappointed.

“But they will have first priority if they re-apply.”

Sports where tickets will still be available include football, volleyball, handball, basketball and hockey, but sessions in smaller arenas, such as the 6,000-seat Velodrome, have virtually sold out.

Japanese power tool manufacturer, Makita has strengthened it’s sports sponsorship links in the US by returning as the official power tool of the 2011 AMA Supercross season.

As part of the deal Makita will also become the primary sponsor of the Rockstar Makita Suzuki Team which won the tournament last year as well as world Supercross and Motocross champion Ryan Dungey.

Dungey became the first person ever to achieve the double feat in the 2010 season at the age of 21.

In addition to a strong portfolio of racing sponsorships, Makita is the official power tool sponsor of Major League Soccer (MLS), and the Mexican National Soccer Team during their competitive matches in the United States.

The ATP has announced that the men’s tennis calendar will be shortened by two weeks from 2012 giving the players a seven-week off-season.

Roger Federer is leading the calls for the ATP Tour to extend the gap in between seasons, which this year sees the top stars have just over a month off before starting another 11-month campaign.

The ATP have responded by extending the break by two weeks, but it now means that the Paris Masters and ATP World Tour Finals are to be held back to back.

The Paris tournament is the last qualifying event for the end-of-season eight-man showpiece, with the following week given over to practice time for the players and promotion of the event, which began a five-year stint at London’s O2 Arena in 2009.

The changes were approved at a board meeting in London on Saturday, with two weeks removed from the calendar courtesy of condensing Paris and London as well as the reallocation of three smaller tournaments to earlier in the year.

ATP executive chairman and president Adam Helfant defended the changes saying it was the only way a longer break could be brought in.

“We’re very happy with the result,” said Helfant. “The length of the off-season is arguably the biggest issue confronting the sport of tennis, and it was the responsibility of the ATP to find a way to address the problem.

“As you can imagine, there were quite a few options that were on the table. And the board weighed up all the different considerations and ultimately decided that the calendar as you see before you reflects our best options for achieving our goal, which was to create a more meaningful off-season.”

World number one Rafael Nadal has been a particular critic of the gruelling nature of the tennis season but it remains to be seen whether the players believe this represents the best option.

There will be concern the changes will negatively impact on the World Tour Finals, but Helfant insisted that will not be the case.

He continued: “We promote this tournament all year long. In fact, when you leave the arena on Sunday after the finals, we will be promoting next year’s finals.

“The success of this event does not depend on a couple of promotional activities that have traditionally taken place in the week before our last Masters 1000s and the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals.”

Source: Sky Sports

Scottish Rugby has extended is partnership with viagogo by announcing that the world’s largest ticket marketplace will return as partner of Scotland’s Autumn Tests for a second consecutive year.

viagogo sponsored last year’s Test series as part of a three-year ticketing partnership, providing an affiliated, safe, secure and guaranteed platform to buy and sell tickets for all Scotland home matches, with today’s new deal adding a fourth year to the ticketing partnership.

The viagogo Autumn Tests will pitch the national team against Argentina (Saturday 8 November) and the All Blacks (Saturday 15 November) at BT Murrayfield Stadium, followed by Tonga at Rugby Park, Kilmarnock (Saturday 22 November).

Scottish Rugby’s Director of Commercial Operations, Communications and Public Affairs, Dominic McKay, said: “We’re delighted to extend our three-year partnership with viagogo, which includes the renewal of their Test series naming rights sponsorship for another year.

“Last season, we established a relationship with viagogo that is extremely beneficial to both Scottish Rugby and its supporters and we’re pleased to be able to extend it for another year, starting with our three Tests against Argentina and New Zealand at BT Murrayfield, and Tonga at Rugby Park, in what will be the first international rugby match involving a tier one nation to be held on a synthetic pitch.”

He added: “Since we started working with viagogo last October, we have sold tickets in more than 45 countries, bringing thousands of new fans from as far afield as Singapore, Malaysia and Japan to BT Murrayfield.”

Steve Roest, spokesperson for viagogo, said: “We’re proud to develop our partnership with Scottish Rugby further, after a successful year working together to protect its fans, promote its world-class rugby to a global audience, and continue our investment in the sport.

“It’s our mission to enable people to buy and sell any ticket, to any live event, anywhere in the world, using the language, currency and device of their choice.

“Scottish Rugby fans all over the world can now click on viagogo and buy before they fly with complete confidence.”