Social media platform Twitter has partnered with Sky to improve the broadcaster’s coverage of the UK football transfer deadline day.

Twitter will deliver a global live stream from the Sky Sports newsroom for three hour-long slots as the transfer window closes until the summer.

Fans will be able to keep track of the latest transfers via deadlineday.twitter.com, as well as through skysports.com and on the Sky Sports mobile application.

The January transfer window closes at 11pm GMT this evening, with several high-profile deals expected to be completed.

Six Nations Chief Executive John Feehan says relegation from the tournament will not be included in the short or medium term.

Georgia and Romania have expressed a desire to be added to the top tier of European Rugby, but Feehan has indicated a reluctance to alter the current competition.

Italy were added to the yearly tournament in 2000, and have finished bottom in 11 of their 17 Six Nations campaigns. However, Feehan has batted away speculation of the Italians being replaced in the immediate future of the competition.

 Cai Qi has been named Executive President of the 2022 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games in Beijing, after he was officially named Mayor of the Chinese capital city.

The new Mayor becomes one of one Executive Presidents of the Games, with Guo Jinlong remaining mainly responsible for the delivery of the competition in his role as President.

Cai became acting mayor in October 2016, replacing Wang Anshun who had played a vital role in the city’s successful bid for the Games.

Cai is seen to have a close relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Paddy Lowe has left his role as technical boss of the Mercedes F1 team.

Lowe helped the German team to three consecutive Constructors’ Championships from 2014 to 2016, with Lewis Hamilton (twice) and Nico Rosberg taking the Drivers’ Championship titles during that time frame.

Lowe is now expected to join Williams to head up the technical sphere for the Williams group. However, the deal taking him to Williams is reportedly yet to be completed.

Former Ferrari technical director James Allison is reportedly likely to replace Lowe at Mercedes, but again the move is subject to confirmation.

Premier League club Everton have announced that new stadium plans are progressing well, as two major sponsorship deals have been agreed.

The Liverpool-based team held their annual general meeting on Wednesday evening, with their Chief Executive Robert Elstone providing an update on plans to relocate to a new stadium. Goodison Park has been the Toffees’ home for over 125 years, but is unsuitable for expansion due to a limited amount of surrounding space.

Elstone announced that two new sponsorship deals worth £75m have been agreed, with details to follow in the coming weeks, with the shirt sponsorship deal proving a 200% increase on the previous arrangement.

Former athlete Sir Roger Bannister, herbal 87, ailment has been awarded the Great British title of Commander of Honour. Bannister has been selected for the honour due to his outstanding service to British sport.

Bannister, stuff who in 1954 became the first man to run a mile in under four minutes, joins a group which celebrates British individuals of conspicuous national importance.

The list, limited to 65 living members at any one time, also includes Stephen Hawking and Desmond Tutu.

Former athlete Sir Roger Bannister, 87, has been awarded the Great British title of Commander of Honour. Bannister has been selected for the honour due to his outstanding service to British sport.

Bannister, who in 1954 became the first man to run a mile in under four minutes, joins a group which celebrates British individuals of conspicuous national importance.

The list, limited to 65 living members at any one time, also includes Stephen Hawking and Desmond Tutu.

Thai energy drink company Carabao have agreed a sponsorship deal with Cypriot football club Apollon Limassol.

Carabao’s branding will appear on Apollon’s home and away kits for the remainder of the current season, ambulance in which the side outfit sit fourth in the Cypriot First Division.

The Thai brand, thumb which currently has sponsorship agreements in place with Chelsea and Reading, has also recently completed a deal to sponsor the English League Cup during the 2017-18 season.

Apollon Limassol Chairman Nicos Kirzis said, ‘’we’re proud to be their (Carabao’s) first partner in Europe’’.

Cheerleading and Muay Thai have received provisional recognition to become a recognised Olympic sport from the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

The two sports will now be eligible for IOC development funding and are also eligible to become members of the Association of IOC Recognised International Federations (ARISF), see bringing the total numbers of members to 37. 

The sports will receive  $25,000 (£20,000) in IOC development funding.

“Muaythai is an organisation with 135 national federations, nearly 60 are recognised by their national Olympic Committees and nearly 400,000 registered athletes,” McConnell said following the decision of the IOC Executive Board. “The International Cheer Union has over 100 national federations and nearly 4.5 million registered athletes. It is a sport with growing popularity, a strong youth focus in schools and universities and we noted that.”

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iSportconnect, the world’s largest global private network of sports business executives, is gearing up to host a Directors’ Club and Christmas Dinner at the Grange St. Paul’s Hotel in London tomorrow, 6th December.

The event is set to begin at 16:00 BST, bringing together top director-level panellists and delegates to discuss key issues in the sports business industry.

The iSportconnect Directors’ Club will round off a fantastic year of sport with the 2016 UEFA European Championships, Copa America Centenario and the Olympic Games just some of the highlights of this global sporting calendar.

The Directors’ Club will feature Peter Hutton, CEO of Eurosport; Peter Gutierrez, CEO of Intercarabao; and Benjamin Morel, MD & Senior Vice President EMEA of the NBA as panellists.

Directors’ Club events are a gathering of exclusively invited director-level delegates, partaking in a BBC Question Time-style discussion with a panel of well-established executives from the sports business industry.

Followed by networking, the discussion is held without the press and follows the Chatham House Rule, allowing for an open and free-flowing debate.

The Directors’ Club will follow a Christmas Dinner, in association with Vindicia and Lord’s Taverners. Former English cricketer Ronnie Irani is to speak at the festive dinner. 

 

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Invitation Policy: iSportconnect Directors’ Club is an invitation-only event open exclusively for chief executives, chairmen and director level executives from governing bodies, sports teams and sponsorship brands.

To register your interest in attending the Directors’ Club and Christmas Dinner, please contact  adi@isportconnect.com

Global Partners:

The ECB have agreed a three-year partnership with Catapult, ailment the global leader in athlete analytics, to work together in providing England cricketers with top quality scientific support.

Under the partnership, male and female England players will benefit from Catapult’s technology, of which the most familiar are the micro-sensors which players wear underneath their shirts.

Raph Brandon, the ECB’s Head of Science, Medicine & Innovation, explained: “We’re really excited about this partnership – it has already brought us major benefits, and there is the potential for so much more.

“It’s a three-year performance technology partnership, taking us through to the 2019 ICC World Cup in England and Wales.

“Catapult are exciting partners to work with, as you can see from the range and quality of their other sporting partnerships all over the world.

“It started from fast bowling, to enable an automated method of monitoring both the training and match workload of the bowlers.  But now, the quality of data we can capture and analyse means we now have far more facts to support the ‘feel’ we get from the expertise of our coaches in their support of the players.

“But although it was initially bowling-motivated, there will also be major benefits for optimising our preparation methods for batting and fielding. For example, scoring a century in a one-day international will generally involve between seven and 12 miles total distance on your feet, including many sprints.

“Trevor Bayliss, Mark Robinson and the other England coaches have already received some information they weren’t expecting.  This opens our eyes to the specific physicality of cricket, and will provide the players with an extra edge in pushing their fitness levels for performance.”

Paul Boanas, Catapult Director of Sales, EMEA, said: “We are delighted to formalise our partnership with the ECB.  Our cutting-edge technology, across wearable devices and analytics software, is perfectly suited to cricket and we look forward to helping the elite English players take their game on to the next level.”

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