Leon Barwell, the former chairman of Premiership Rugby club Northampton Saints has lost his battle with cancer at the age of 46.

Barwell stepped down from his role earlier in June on medical advice and the Saints announced this morning he died after an 18-month fight against the disease.

During his tenure the club reached the Aviva Premiership and LV= Cup finals.

“Today is a very sad day for everyone associated with Northampton Saints,” said acting chairman Tony Hewitt.

“Leon was a massive part of the recent successes we have enjoyed, both on and off the pitch, and it is tragic for both the club and the Barwell family that he has been taken away from us just as the next chapter of his life was beginning.

“He was wholeheartedly committed to the club in every way possible, something that was demonstrated clearly in his determination to present the chairman’s awards at our end of season dinner only a few weeks ago and attend the Aviva Premiership Final.

“Going forward, it is vital that we continue Leon’s legacy and look to realise his ambitions for the team and the club as a whole.

“But in the immediate future I am sure that Saints supporters everywhere will join me in expressing heartfelt condolences to Keith, Maggie, Paula, Ella and the rest of the Barwell family. Our thoughts are with them at this difficult time.”

Barwell joined the Saints board of directors in 1999 and succeeded his father Keith as chairman in 2011.

Retired New Zealand cricket captain Chris Cairns has been awarded £90,000 in damages after allegations of a defamatory comment on Twitter, in what is thought to be the first Twitter libel trial heard in England.

Cairns was outraged when an unsavoury ‘tweet’ was posted on the social networking site by Lalit Modi, the former chairman of the IPL, the Twenty20 franchise in India. The tweet accused Cairns of being involved in Match Fixing, which he has strenuously denied on many occasions.

Modi has so far refused to apologise for the allegation he made in a tweet.

Cairns’s lawyer said the comments had tainted the career of his client, who played for Nottinghamshire before a spell in India.

It is the first Twitter libel case in England. Last year a councillor in Caerphilly, Wales, was ordered to pay £3,000 and costs to a political rival for posting a libellous comment on Twitter.

Modi was also ordered to pay Mr Cairns’ £400,000 legal costs.

Cairns, who took more than 200 wickets and scored more than 3,000 runs in 62 Test matches, said Mr Modi’s tweet in January 2010 was an “unequivocal allegation”.

He was not at the High Court in London for the ruling by Mr Justice Bean. But later he made a statement, saying: “I feel great relief that I am (now) able to walk into any cricket ground in the world with my head held high.”

The judge, who sat without a jury, said Mr Modi had “singularly failed” to provide any reliable evidence Mr Cairns was involved in match-fixing.

Infront Sports & Media has announced the opening of a new office in Singapore, allergy which with handle the sports marketing firm’s Asian operations.

Infront Pan-Asia, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the company, became operational as of 1 July under Managing Director Ian Mathie. Mathie previously held the position of Senior Vice President at World Sport Group where he did considerable business in the Asia-Pacific region.

The new Singapore-based office, which is the group’s third office in Asia, will work in close collaboration with Infront’s Beijing office, offering services to Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, India, Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand in addition to Mainland China.

Philippe Blatter, President & CEO of Infront Sports & Media, said: “The inauguration of Infront Pan-Asia takes our growth strategy forward and extends the group’s global footprint. The new office will serve as a central hub and provide a well-connected regional base, from which we can exploit attractive opportunities for our clients in the growing Asian economies. As the global media landscape develops, the demand for top-level sports content is on the rise across Asia both from a broadcasting and sponsorship perspective.”

“It is an exciting opportunity to lead the development of this new Infront subsidiary – building upon the strong reputation the group has already established in the region in the last ten years,” said Ian Mathie. “Infront’s global expertise and trusted client relationships, combined with an understanding of the local market and respective networks will build value and maximise the impact for our partners – in Asia and beyond. Operating from the Singapore region, which will gain additional boost through the new Singapore Sports Hub project within the next year, we are well set to leverage great potentials in the Asian sports market.”

Infront Pan-Asia will provide the full-range of services offered by Infront Group’s other international subsidiaries, including broadcasting and media rights opportunities from the group’s sports portfolio as well as potential sponsorship deals in the region.

The International Rugby Board (IRB) has announced a record investment programme for 2013, ampoule the first of the new four-year cycle (2013-16), viagra despite recording operating losses of £35.5m ($55.5m) in 2012.

Those losses were planned for and now funding invested and utilised by the IRB in 2013, clinic excluding Rugby World Cup 2015 related expenditure, will total £47m ($73.5m), including investment in Fifteens and Sevens Rugby for men and women, through strategic (high performance) initiatives, development grants to Member Unions and Regional Associations and more.

An investment of at least £184m ($288m) will be implemented over the new four-year cycle, eclipsing the previous cycle’s £150m ($234.5m) by £34m ($53.1m) or 23%.

IRB Chairman Bernard Lapasset said: “Rugby continues to grow across every continent despite the challenging global economic climate and the IRB is committed to ensuring that the sport, through its two disciplines of Fifteens and Sevens, has the foundations from which to further prosper and reach out to major new markets, while keeping our base strong.

“We are delighted to be rolling out an unprecedented investment in competitions for Tier Two and Three Unions to enable them to benchmark performance, win rankings points and have the best possible preparation for RWC 2015 qualifying and participation and further ahead towards Japan 2019.

IRB Chief Financial Officer Robert Brophy added: “The IRB’s commitment to record development reflects the organisation’s diligence towards maintaining reduced operating costs and a robust long-term strategic commitment to growth and targeted investment in the Game through the £44m Strategic Investment Programme for the period 2013-2016.”