By Christian Radnedge

The Boston bid to host the 2024 Olympics was left in tatters this week as it was announced by the United States Olympic Committee that they would jointly end the campaign to bring the Games to the American city. 

A statement from the USOC and the Boston 2024 bid team was released on Monday shortly after a press conference in which Boston Mayor Marty Walsh said he would not support the city’s bid to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2024.

In his statement, USOC ceo Scott Blackmun said: “Boston 2024 has expressed confidence that, with more time, they could generate the public support necessary to win the bid and deliver a great Games. They also recognize, however, that we are out of time if the USOC is going to be able to consider a bid from another city.

“As a result, we have reached a mutual agreement to withdraw Boston’s bid to host the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.”

Boston 2024 Partnership chairman Steve Pagliuca believed the bid process had still been a positive experience for the city.

He said: “Although we had hoped for a different outcome, we know that Boston will still benefit from the bidding process. Ours is a world-class city, but we face challenges when it comes to the cost of housing, our aging infrastructure, and the need to help all Bostonians find good jobs.

“We believe that our planning for the Games, including the vision for Widett Circle and Columbia Point, has already benefitted Boston, Mayor Walsh’s important 2030 planning process, and other civic conversations around the future of Boston’s neighborhoods and economic vitality. It can still advance many of the economic development, housing, infrastructure, and job creation opportunities throughout Boston and the Commonwealth that Bid 2.0 outlined.”

The USOC maintain they still want to bring the 2024 Games to the United States, adding: “We will immediately begin to explore whether we can do so on a basis consistent with our guiding principles, to which we remain firmly committed. We understand the reality of the timeline that is before us.

“We will brief the media on our progress towards a decision later in August, and we will not have any public statements on the subject of a possible bid until then.”

Members of the International Olympic Committee have been reacting to the news at their meeting this week in Kuala Lumpur, where they have gathered to determine the host of the 2022 Winter Olympics.

“We were all excited when (Boston) was announced, but it seems to have stumbled since,” said IOC vice-president John Coates. “But it’s better to face up to these things early if you don’t have full public support.”

A possible replacement for Boston is Los Angeles, the city which has hosted the Games twice before in 1932 and 1984. Executive board member Sergei Bubka of Ukraine was not averse to the prospect of a third Olympic encounter on the west coast.

“Los Angeles has great history, lots of experience. We will respect their [USOC] decision,” Bubka said.

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Fluendo is delighted to announce its expansion into Scotland with Glasgow Girls FC (GGFC) through provision of its LongoMatch video analysis.

GGFC is a Scottish Football Association ‘Community’ Quality Mark Club based in the East-End of Glasgow. The club began with twelve young girls and one coach competing in the Scottish Women’s Football League u13s. Seven years later, the club now has over 200 registered girls playing football in a safe and structured environment.

Edward Gallagher Club Development Coach commented on the partnership about the importance of video analysis: “For me personally it is very important. I was hired by the club at the end of 2014 and I  recognized that using video analysis would help take GGFC and their players to the next level. Being able to look for trends in our play, re-watch our games and provide specific feedback to our players at training makes it very important to my coaching.

“The players have adapted to the new training methods and benefited technically on the training field, benefited from the strength training physically and the analysis has benefited the players tactically. Overall adding the pieces together we’ve managed to develop a more all round training programme for the players”

Commenting on the benefits of LongoMatch Gallagher stated: “I believe that the programme itself is beneficial for me as it is relatively easy to use and also makes coding a game a little bit quicker than using other programmes in the market”

David Mascioni, Marketing Manager of Fluendo added: “Our new partnership with Glasgow Girls FC is a first in Scotland. We are delighted to team up with this organization and their unique vision. We look forward to seeing the benefits LongoMatch brings to GGFC”

This month, drugs four of Britain’s biggest UFC^® stars will travel across the globe in the hunt for victory inside the octagon.

Manchester’s Michael Bisping (pictured), herbal Sunderland’s Ross Pearson, health London’s Brad Pickett and Cambridge’s Luke Barnatt will all be looking to make their mark on their respective divisions and to achieve success for their British fans.

Ninth ranked middleweight Michael “The Count” Bisping is set to meet the number five ranked Luke Rockhold at UFC FIGHT NIGHT SYDNEY: ROCKHOLD vs. BISPING on Saturday November 8^th. After weeks of fierce rivalry between the two, Bisping insists he is ready to step in and move one step closer to becoming Britain’s first UFC champion.

“Forget about Conor McGregor, forget about Jose Aldo; this month it’s all about British fighters. Myself, Ross Pearson, and all the other British fighters – we’re taking over. Every time I step into the octagon, I am representing my country.

“When I first started doing this, nobody even knew what the sport was in our country. That certainly is not the case anymore. The sport is growing in popularity and now we’re producing some world class talent. In Britain now, the gyms are there, the resources are there and the talent is most certainly there.

“People who underestimate us as fighters, they make me laugh. Do not do that. Anybody who underestimates us, they do so at their peril.”

Fighting alongside Bisping this weekend is lightweight Ross “The Real Deal” Pearson, who will take on Al Iaquinta in the co-main of UFC FIGHT NIGHT SYDNEY. Having worked closely with Michael Bisping throughout his career, Pearson is hoping that both of them can achieve success in Sydney and make it a double victory for Britain.

“It’s a massive honour to represent my country.” Pearson said. “I am very proud of my roots and where I come from. The sport in Britain is getting bigger and bigger, and our fighters are getting better and better. This is the best time for us to be pushing towards that belt.”

In action later this month at UFC FIGHT NIGHT: EDGAR vs. SWANSON is fan-favourite Brad “One Punch” Pickett. The eleventh ranked flyweight insists that despite his recent loss to Ian McCall in July of this year, he is still hungry for that all important shot at the title and he intends to go out there and put in a performance that his home fans will be proud of:

“I am very proud of where I come from. When I go out there, I’ve got the weight of the country on my shoulders, but I like that.”

And when it comes to the possibility of a British fighter becoming a world champion, Pickett insists that there is every chance we may see this happen one day soon:

“I certainly haven’t given up on that dream and I know Michael Bisping hasn’t either. We have a lot of talent coming through at the moment in Britain too and it’s great to see British fighters doing so well. We have the ability, but perhaps we need that bit of luck too.”

Also in action on November 22^nd is British middleweight Luke Barnatt, who will be hoping for a convincing win in Austin over Texas’ ownRoger Narvaez, in order to keep the British fighting spirit alive.

“We are a team.” said Barnatt. “We are representing our country. To me, this is a responsibility. I feel, when I put my UFC gloves on, I’m about to go out there and fight for my country.”

Watch Michael Bisping and Ross Pearson in action at UFC FIGHT NIGT SYDNEY: ROCKHOLD vs. BISPING LIVE on UFC Fight Pass from midnight on Saturday November 8^th

Watch Brad Pickett and Luke Barnatt in action at UFC FIGHT NIGHT: EDGAR vs. SWANSON LIVE on BT Sport 1 from midnight on Saturday November 22^nd

For further details, visit www.ufc.com.

The ninth edition of World Games will begin tomorrow, therapy 25 July 2013, discount in the city of Cali, health Colombia.

IOC President Jacques Rogge will join the 35,000 spectators at the opening ceremony of the eleven-day event. The Games will see around 4,500 athletes from over 100 countries competing for over 200 medals in 31 sports, including softball and squash, both of which are shortlisted for the Olympic programme in 2020.

More than 120 hours of TV coverage will be produced by host broadcaster, RCTV, and aired by 22 TV stations on 5 continents.

Wroclaw, Poland, will host the 10th edition of The World Games in 2017.

Mumbai Police want to speak to the CEO of Chennai Super Kings (CSK), herbal Gurunath Meiyappan over his role in the spot-fixing scandal that has blighted this year’s Indian Premier League (IPL).

A three-member team of the police reached Meiyappan’s house on Thursday, but reports suggest he was not in.

Meiyappan is the son-in-law of CSK owner and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) chief Narayanaswami Srinivasan.

A senior crime brand officer told the Hindustan Times that Meiyappan will either be issued summons or a team will be sent to Chennai to question him.

His questioning would revolve around his links with Bollywood actor Vindoo Dara Singh and if he was involved in betting or passing inside information about matches.

The officer said: “Based on the outcome of the questioning, we will decide whether his actions fall under the domain of impropriety or invite legal action.”

Umpire Asad Rauf suspended by ICC

In other news relating to the spot-fixing scandal, The International Cricket Council (ICC) has withdrawn elite panel umpire Asad Rauf from the ICC Champions Trophy 2013 that will be staged in England and Wales from 6-23 June.

The decision has been made after media reports on Wednesday indicated that the umpire was under investigation by Mumbai Police/

Explaining the decision, ICC Chief Executive David Richardson said: “In the wake of reports that the Mumbai Police are conducting an investigation into Asad Rauf’s activities, we feel that it is in Asad’s best interests as well as those of the sport and the event itself, that he is withdrawn from participating in the ICC Champions Trophy.”

Stay tuned to iSportconnect for all the latest news surrounding the IPL spot-fixing scandal.

Location: Highbury House, ask London, and UK

Closing date: 24th November 2016

Overview: 

The role is part of the team that is responsible for generating revenues through the acquisition of commercial partners on both a regional and global basis. As well as delivering revenue in to the Club the partners should positively expose and promote Arsenal Football Club, unhealthy helping to build its international fan base.

The primary purpose of this role is to design and implement creative materials for the Partnerships team. The successful candidate will be key to ensuring that the Partnerships team achieve best-in-class levels of presentation and thus help to ensure the team acquire new partners and satisfy the needs of current partners.

The ideal candidate will be passionate and highly capable creative designer with an affinity for football and a working knowledge of sports sponsorship.

Key Responsibilities

• Design and implement sales presentation creative materials, in collaboration with wider Partnerships team
• Manipulation and editing of bespoke imagery for Partnerships presentation materials
• Build and maintain the club design templates, ensuring consistency throughout club sales materials
• Maintain the database of club imagery in a thoughtful and logical manner
• Maintain department creative assets in manner that ensures efficient deployment
• Produce visual representations of club/external data to support compelling sales messaging
• Develop relationships with internal creative teams and external design resources (e.g. printers)

Main Job Requirements and Person Specification

Education/Qualifications/Training

• Educated to degree level or equivalent
• Adobe Photoshop certified

Specific Experience:

• 1-3 years working in graphic design, preferably in a commercial environment
• Advanced user of Creative Suite, including Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign
• Advanced user of Apple Keynote
• Proficient in MacOS
• Microsoft Powerpoint expertise preferred but not essential

Abilities/Skills/Knowledge:

• A keen creative eye and strong commercial acumen
• A natural interest in the latest digital design trends, techniques and typography best practice
• Competent in planning and prioritising
• Organised and have proven attention to detail
• Enthusiastic and passionate about design
• A passion or empathy with sport/sports entertainment
• An interest and/or professional understanding of sports sponsorship preferred

Hours of Work

Your normal basic week is 09:00 to 17:00 from Monday to Friday including one hour for lunch; a total of 40 hours per week. Matchday working as and when required.

Arsenal FC is committed to the principle of equal opportunity and its policies for recruitment, selection, training, development and promotion are designed to ensure that no job applicant receives less favourable treatment on the grounds of race, colour, nationality, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, age, ethnic and national origin, disability or gender reassignment.

Please click here to apply

Spanish free-to-air broadcaster TVE has acquired broadcast rights for the next two seasons of the English FA Cup competition.

TVE is reportedly set to pay €2.4m (US$2.64m) for the rights over the next two years, site with selected games being shown on TVE’s sport channel Teledeporte.

Additionally, El Confidential Digital have reported that a budget of €1m has been approved to bid for rights to the 2016 FIFA Club World Cup, which Real Madrid are set to compete in.

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The LA Galaxy announced today a year-long partnership with Samuelsohn, the Montreal-based luxury performance clothing company, to provide tailored clothing for the team’s players and management. 

“The LA Galaxy are pleased to partner with Samuelsohn, an elite performance brand,” said LA Galaxy President Chris Klein. “We want our players to be sharp on and off the field. This partnership allows us to partner with a premier, custom suit company that is representative of our club’s ideals of excellence and passion.”

The new team uniform includes an Extreme Sharkskin suit and Grey Mohair suit. 

Two key performance-enhancing elements include an exclusive Loro Piana Mills premium wool with a natural stretch and Rain System waterproof technology.  

Samuelsohn’s decision to partner with the LA Galaxy is strategic and tied to the brand’s recent objectives to increase the brand’s presence in the United States and further amplify its position as an authority in luxury performance tailored clothing using the most innovative luxury fabrics and technical attributes.

“We wanted to bring the brand to the next level and also the next generation, and I think that the LA Galaxy is a perfect match,” said Arnold Brant Silverstone, President and Chief Creative Officer of Samuelsohn. “The Samuelsohn brand is all about passion and performance, and men that strive for excellence, so it’s only fitting that we partner with one of the league’s most-decorated soccer clubs.”

The partnership between Samuelsohn and the LA Galaxy will include Spring/Summer 2017 print and digital campaigns, in-store promotions, social media activations, and special events.