By Christian Radnedge

Sheffield FC, viagra sale officially the oldest football club in the world, sale has joined the likes of Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona in being the beneficiary of Qatari investment.

The club, founded in 1857 and who play in the eighth tier of English football, have received a donation of £100,000 from the Supreme Committee for the Delivery and Legacy of the Qatar 2022 World Cup.

The money forms what chairman Richard Tims hopes will be a fruitful relationship with the organising committee to help Sheffield FC’s ladies side, who are faring better than their male counterparts playing in the FA Women’s Super League 2.

Tims told KeirRadnedge.com at the Soccerex Global Convention in Manchester: “When our ladies gained promotion to the Super League, I put a plan together to prove we could make it at that stage because the teams we would be playing against were the likes of Aston Villa, Everton and a seventh division Sheffield FC didn’t really have the resource.

“So we got chatting to put some support into our foundation that would directly help the ladies football. So that’s how it all started really.

“It’s not going into the men’s first team, it’s about promoting the club as a whole so the ladies team typically has a requirement at the moment so that’s how the relationship started. We want to develop a partnership going forward, so we’ll see where it takes us.”

The investment came about thanks to discussions with Qatar 2022 General Secretary Hassan Al Thawadi, who met Tims in 2009 and spoke fondly about his time at Sheffield University.

Controversy

Since then, the pair kept in contact to discuss ways to develop grassroots football that may benefit both parties.

But with allegations of human rights abuses in Qatar and a controversy over how the tiny gulf state won the right to host the World Cup in 2022, the public perception of anything to do with the country is not viewed favourably.

Tims, however, is not concerned by the sheer amount of negative stories about his club’s generous benefactors.

“Obviously, I’ve been talking to them for four years so I’ve been following the story,” he said. “What I’m hoping is we can raise the profile to dispel some of those public perceptions.

“Most of the people criticising Qatar have never been. I’ve been, and I think Qatar realises it’s got some work to do to gain that public perception on workers’ rights which they’re working on and which football can help raise that profile for that positive change.

“So have I got any qualms? Not at all.”

Short on support

Something with which Tims does object to however is the response, or rather lack of it, from British football clubs for the greater cause of Sheffield FC which is to return to the original site of the club in the city and build a home for the historic club.

A crowdfunding campaign has so far raised more than £31,000 in a month but most of the donations have come from abroad, including the likes of Borussia Dortmund. Just two weeks remain for the club to reach their £150,000 target.

“The crowdfunding campaign has raised over 31,000 in just one month,” Tims said. “95 per cent of that has come from international. We’ve written to every Football League club, we’ve written to every Premier League club and the Premier League itself. So maybe we just don’t respect it enough. [We’ve had] Nothing at all.”

The Football Associations of England, denture Scotland and Wales have submitted applications to host matches at the UEFA Euro 2020 tournament, buy cialis which is the first of its kind to be played across the continent.

UEFA opened the bidding process for countries to either host one of the 12 group stage packages or to host the semi-finals and final. Associations can apply for more than one but cannot be awarded both packages.

The tournament will be played in 13 cities across the continent and it is predicted that 30 cities will formally submit bids to UEFA on Friday, with a decision due in September.

Wembley put forward

The English FA have put forward Wembley Stadium in London and have expressed an interest in both packages offered by UEFA.

FA General Secretary Alex Horne pointed to Wembley hosting two Champions League finals in four years as proof they are ready to host matches at the Euros.

“We are bidding for either of the two packages available and with our recent experience of hosting two UEFA Champions League Finals in the last four years we believe that Wembley Stadium and London represent a strong bid for UEFA to consider,” said Horne.

“We recognise UEFA is considering many strong bids from a number of candidate cities and we welcome the opportunity to put forward our bid.

Bale supports FAW bid

The Football Association of Wales (FAW) has also put Cardiff’s 74,000-capacity Millennium Stadium forward to host either three group games plus either a last 16 or quarter final match.

Welsh international and Real Madrid star Gareth Bale backed the bid and said that nothing compares to the atmosphere generated in the Millennium Stadium.

Bale said: “This could be the beginning of a great period for Welsh international football. I believe we have a real opportunity of qualifying for the 2016 European Championship Finals in France. It would then be an unbelievable experience to play in the 2020 European Championship finals in my home city of Cardiff.

“I have been fortunate to play in some of the world’s greatest stadia but nothing matches the atmosphere and passion generated by the Millennium Stadium. These are exciting times for Welsh football and I’m really proud to offer my full support to the FAW’s UEFA EURO 2020 bid.”

The FAW confirmed that they had the support of the government, Cardiff council, the stadium and operators of all the major travel links in the city.

Jonathan Ford, CEO of the FAW added: “The FAW is thrilled to submit its UEFA EURO 2020 bid and we believe that we have a strong and compelling proposition. The Millennium Stadium, with a capacity of almost 75,000 as well as 100 hospitality boxes, would generate a significant financial contribution for UEFA.”

Glasgow confident in bid

And finally, the Scottish Football Association (SFA) has named Glasgow’s Hampden Park in their bid to be considered for a group stage and quarter final match.

The SFA admitted it would be unlikely that four bids from the UK and Ireland would be successful but CEO Stewart Regan pointed to the country’s infrastructure and tourism as reason to appoint Glasgow.

The city will host this year’s Commonwealth Games and Regan commented: “It is highly unlikely that there will be four winning bids from the UK and Ireland.

“Our job is to try to convince UEFA that Glasgow should be one of the preferred options for the UK and Ireland zone, if there is to be such a thing.

“Our view is that we have a compelling bid that proves that the Scottish FA can put on major events with its partners.

“We have demonstrated that Scotland has a lot to offer, not just in terms of tourism but in terms of infrastructure and we can stage major events, and that if there is to be a safe pair of hands, the Scottish FA would be viewed that way by UEFA and its executive committee.”

The Scottish government and Glasgow City Council have thrown their weight behind the bid.

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The Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games have smashed the record for ticket sales despite still having a week to go.

According to organisers, viagra coupon 287,000 tickets have been sold which is well above the previous record held by the Vancouver 2010 Games of 57,000.

The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) also announced that more people visited their website in the opening 24 hours of the Sochi event than in the whole of Vancouver 2010.

Craig Spence, IPC Director of Media and Communications highlighted the success of London 2012 and praised the organising committee’s attempts at raising public awareness.

“We are delighted to break two significant records so early during Sochi 2014,” said Spence. “The organising committee has done a great job in raising Paralympic awareness which has helped ticket sales reach their record levels.”

Spence added: “The IPC website appears to be growing in popularity all the time. During London 2012 we had the same number of visitors each day as we did during the whole of the Beijing Games and this looks to be repeating itself here in Sochi when compared to Vancouver.

“Although the visitor numbers for Sochi are slightly lower than what we experienced during London 2012, they are record breaking for a Winter Games.”

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iSportconnect, the world’s largest private network for sports business professionals, is proud to announce that Huggity has signed an agreement to become the company’s Official Fan Engagement Partner.

Established in 2011, Huggity has propelled themselves to become an industry leader in fan engagement and a company on the cutting edge of technology and using such technology in innovative and unique ways. Their core product, FanPic, provides brands the opportunity to engage with fans post event and activate their sponsorship online.

With major clients such as Manchester United, Aviva, Bupa, and Chevrolet to name a few, Huggity is continuing to expand their business globally through high-level partnerships.

The partnership with iSportconnect will allow Huggity to receive significant brand exposure on the company’s website and at official iSportconnect events. Huggity will also receive extensive editorial features and top class business introductions for partnering with iSportconnect.

Mike Sikorski, CEO of Huggity commented: “We are very happy to have agreed this partnership with iSportconnect. Both companies are innovative in the way we have approached the sport industry and I am looking forward to working closely with the iSportconnect team to increase our brand’s awareness. Huggity and iSportconnect share a very similar vision and are both enthusiastic about social media and engaging fans through it, so I am confident this will be an extremely successful relationship.”

Sree Varma, CEO of iSportconnect added: “The Huggity FanPic application is absolutely brilliant and is a great way for brands to engage with fans after the final whistle is blown. I am therefore very pleased that Huggity will be iSportconnect’s Official Fan Engagement Partner. Myself and the team pride ourselves on the work we do for our partners and I am confident this will be another successful relationship.”

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West Ham could be close to securing a deal to move into the Olympic Stadium after talks with the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC). 

The Premier League club were named the ‘preferred bidder’ in December 2012 and have been discussing details such as the conversion cost with the LLDC since. London Mayor Boris Johnson has described those talks as “positive” and the club’s co-chairman, David Gold is also positive.

Gold told talkSPORT: “I think we’re close. It’s only what I’m being promised. As we speak I’m being promised March 16,” Gold told talkSPORT. “We would sign the agreement then.” 

London’s Olympic bid promised to retain athletics events at the Olympic Stadium after the Games and Gold beleives this is only viable with the financial support that football can offer.

Gold added: “Most Olympic Stadiums have failed because they haven’t embraced the legacy and also saying the Olympics is over. Athletics needs football to support it. There’s no other way.” 

The LLDC will discuss the future of the stadium at their next board meeting on 26 March. An extraordinary general meeting can be called if an agreement over the stadium’s future is agrred before that date.

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Domino’s Pizza has signed a deal with Ligue 2.

The French second division has signed a title partnership agreement making the official title of the league Domino’s Ligue 2.

Find out more HERE. (in French)