London 2012: CountDown to Olympics  

It 9 days to go, We cant wait to  see the Opening Ceremony! it gonna be fun, interesting, Tantalizing and to crown it up Wonderful.

Wishing  Every Country Participating Success and Good Luck...........

                                       TRANSFER AND GOSSIP

New Watford manager Gianfranco Zola wants Italian legends Filippo Inzaghi, 38, and Alessandro Del Piero, 37, who are both free agents.


Inzaghi right, and Del Piero left.


OTHER GOSSIP
Robin van Persie is set for formal talks with Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger as he considers his options away from the Gunners. The Netherlands striker, 28, is interested in joining Juventus or Manchester United.

Midfielder Oscar, 20, has arrived in London with the Brazil Olympic squad and will have a medical ahead of his £25m move from Internacional to Chelsea.

Striker Peter Odemwingie could be on his way out of West Brom after a training ground bust-up with new manager Steve Clarke.

Arsenal have still not opened contract talks with Theo Walcott despite the prospect of the England winger leaving as a free agent next summer.


Manchester City defender Kolo Toure could price himself out of a move to Saudi club Al Hilal with a request for £50,000 a week after tax and a rent-free home, two cars, paid-for flights and the captaincy.


Liverpool striker Luis Suarez, who was banned for eight matches for racially abusing Patrice Evra, has reopened his row with Manchester United's French defender by using a Uruguayan television interview to claim: "In England, Man United has this political power, and you have to respect that and shut your mouth."
Eurobot:
Okay, our French bot says that BeIn Sport have claimed Zlatan Ibrahimovic has joined Paris Saint-Germain subject to a medical tomorrow morning at 8am French time. More on that as we get it - but PSG have announced mysteriously that a press conference has been called at 3pm French time tomorrow.
Eurobot:
DEAL! Naldo has joined Wolfsburg from Bremen for an undisclosed fee. An odd one that is, as he had seemed set to return to Brail.

Eurobot:
Okay, so a bit more on Carlos Vela's move to Sociedad - they have verbally agreed an unconfirmed fee, a four-year contract is being mooted but nothing will be finalised until Thursday.

Eurobot:
Some of you have been asking about horse trainer and sometime footballer Michael Owen - well, he has spoken. "Getting closer to finding a new club. Had a good deal of interest but just need to pick right! Can't wait to get going again."

Eurobot: 

LIVERPOOL: The
Reds are closing in on Clint Dempsey for £10m as Andy Carroll nears the Anfield
exit (Daily Mail)

Liverpool New Signing : FABIO BORINI  

Borini will link up with former boss Brendan Rodgers, for whom he played under at Chelsea and Swansea before moving to Serie A, and Molby feels the Italian's technical ability and work rate will compliment the players around him in Rodgers' 4-3-3 system.
He told the club's official website: "He's exactly the kind of player who will fit into the system Brendan wants to play.
"Technically, Borini is very good, he has two good feet, his movement is excellent and he's a goalscorer. The manager has spoken about playing 4-3-3 and Borini could slot in anywhere along that front line.
"His mobility and work rate is ideally suited to the kind of football the new manager wants to see. He's a similar type of player to [Giuseppe] Rossi, who has done very well at Villarreal after leaving Manchester United.
"There wasn't one Liverpool player who could be happy with their goal return last season. We desperately needed more options up front. We need to be more prolific this season and hopefully Borini will help us achieve that."

Molby has been impressed with what he has seen in Borini, and hailed his attitude to seek out first-team football in Italy after failing to force his way into the first-team at Chelsea.
He added: "Brendan has stuck his neck out for this kid and clearly has a lot of belief in him. I don't think the fact he didn't make it at Chelsea means a great deal. Borini was very young and he had the likes of Didier Drogba ahead of him in the pecking order.
"To be fair, he could have signed another contract and stayed on the bench at Chelsea for another couple of years. But he decided not to hang around. He wanted to play and credit to him for that. He went back to Italy, did very well for Roma and got himself into the Italy squad for the Euros."
Molby feels Rodgers' familiarity and confidence in Borini will help the youngster adapt quickly to the Premier League where he hopes he will shine for the Reds.
He continued: "Brendan will know exactly what he's getting. He worked with him at Chelsea and must have been impressed by him to take him to Swansea. He did very well during that loan spell and his goals helped get Swansea into the Premier League.
"Brendan must feel there's more improvement in him and this is back to the old Liverpool mode of buying a player with potential. At Chelsea they ask their striker to play in a physical way but Liverpool will rely on his movement."

African football stars' exodus to China
   

A new eastern frontier has opened up for African players, with a handful of the continent's top names heading to China to play in its top flight, the Super League.

After Ivory Coast striker Didier Drogba left newly-crowned European champions Chelsea for Shanghai Shenhua last month, a number of other seasoned African internationals have quickly followed suit.
Nigeria striker Yakubu Aiyegbeni departed English side Blackburn Rovers for Guangzhou R&F on a three-year deal, swiftly followed by Mali's Frederic Kanoute, who signed a two-year contract with Beijing Guoan, having left Spanish side Sevilla.
They have now been joined by Kanoute's compatriot, Seydou Keita, who has signed a two-and-a-half-year deal with Dalian Aerbin, after winning 14 trophies with Spanish giants Barcelona.

“ You cannot just take the money, have fun and come back, because when you go there and you don't perform, they terminate your contract”

Former Ghana international Kwame Ayew

So, what is attracting some of Africa's biggest names to China, besides the obvious lure of higher wages?

One of the wider benefits for the clubs is that the acquisition of such high-profile African names could well have its advantages off the field.
"China is expanding rapidly in mining and natural resources in Africa," James Porteous of the South China Morning Post said.
"Perhaps the clubs also see opportunities to boost the marketing and political links between China and Africa in that regard."

  

Afcon qualifiers draw - find out who plays who

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) on Thursday held the draws for the final round of qualifying ahead of the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations. Below are the fixtures
Mali vs Botswana
Zimbabwe vs Angola
Ghana vs Malawi
Liberia vs Nigeria
Zambia vs uganda
Cape Verde vs Cameroun
Mozambique vs Morocco
Sierraleone vs Tunisia
Guinea vs Niger
Sudan vs Ethiopia
Libyavs Algeria
Cote D'voire vs Senegal
DR Congo vs Equitorial Guinea
Gabon vs Togo
Central Africa vs Burkinafaso
The matches will be played over two legs, the first to take place on the weekend of September 7-9, with the second legs scheduled for the weekend of October 12-14. The 15 teams who emerge victorious from the ties will join hosts South Africa in the field for the Nations Cup which runs from January 19 to February 10 next year.

Manchester United is Most Valuable Sports Team

Despite losing the Premier League title to City rivals last season, Manchester United still lay claims of another title, though the world’s most valuable sports team. Forbes estimates Manchester United is now worth $2.23 billion, 19% more than No. 2 Real Madrid, worth $1.88 billion.
Below are the ratings of sports teams that occupy the top ten spot as released by Forbes.

#1 Manchester United
Value: $2.23 billion
Owner: Glazer family
The Red Devils are the world's most valuable sports team and have a long tradition of great play on the pitch. Manchester United has captured a record 19 English Premiership titles and claims to have 659 million fans worldwide. Next up for the Red Devils: an IPO on the New York Stock Exchange to reduce debt from Malcolm Glazer's purchase of the club in 2005.

#2 Real Madrid
Value: $1.88 billion
Owner: Club members
Real Madrid had the highest revenues of any soccer team during the 2010-11 season and was the most profitable team in all of sports during 2011, with operating income of $214 million. Club members have owned and operated the team since it was founded in 1902. Real won its record 32nd La Liga title in 2012, led by its star winger Cristiano Ronaldo (above, center).

#3 New York Yankees
Value: $1.85 billion
Owner: Steinbrenner family
The Yankees are just part of a money making machine that also includes the YES Network and Legends Hospitality. YES, the team's 34%-owned regional sports channel, is the most profitable RSN in the country with operating income of more than $200 million. Legends, the stadium management and concessions company owned by the Yankees, Dallas Cowboys and Goldman Sachs, signed a deal last year to sell season tickets at the San Francisco's 49ers new stadium. The enterprise value for the Yankees, YES and Legends is estimated to be $5.5 billion.

#4 Dallas Cowboys
Value: $1.85 billion
Owner: Jerry Jones
Cowboys' owner Jerry Jones is a master salesman and has attracted the NBA All-Star game, the Super Bowl, a Manny Pacquiao fight, soccer matches, concerts and more to Cowboys Stadium since the $1.2 billion venue opened in 2009. It will host the 2014 NCAA Men's Final Four as well. The stadium can hold 110,000 people, including standing room. One thing Jones has not been able to sell is naming rights to the building, which could fetch $15 million annually.

#5 Washington Redskins
Value: $1.56 billion
Owner: Daniel Snyder
The Redskins have made the playoffs only three times since Dan Snyder bought the team in 1999. That hasn't stopped fans from flocking to FedEx Field and making the Redskins the NFL's most profitable team in recent years. The 'Skins paid a king's ransom in April of three first round draft picks and a second round choice in a trade with the St. Louis Rams for the right to select Robert Griffin III (#10 above) with the second overall pick. Griffin won the 2011 Heisman Trophy while at Baylor.

#6 Los Angeles Dodgers
Value: $1.4 billion
Owner: Guggenheim Baseball
Frank McCourt sold the Dodgers in April through a bankruptcy court-led auction to Guggenheim Baseball for $2 billion. The deal included an additional $150 million to create a joint venture with McCourt on the parking lots and land around Dodger Stadium. The new ownership group includes Los Angeles Lakers' great Magic Johnson, former president of the Atlanta Braves and Washington Nationals Stan Kasten and film producer Peter Guber. Chicago financial services firm Guggenheim Partners financed most of the deal. The new group paid a record price for the franchise based on an impending new local TV deal that is expected to be worth more than $3.5 billion in cash and equity.

#7 New England Patriots
Value: $1.4 billion
Owner: Robert Kraft
The Patriots are one of the NFL's best-run teams on and off the field. The Patriots have sold out every game at Gillette Stadium since it opened in 2002 and made the playoffs eight of the past nine years. Quarterback Tom Brady (above) is just the second quarterback, after John Elway, to lead his team to the Super Bowl five times. Brady's last trip to the Super Bowl ended in disappointment when the Pats lost to the New York Giants for the second time in five seasons in the big game.

#8 FC Barcelona
Value: $1.31 billion
Owner: Club members
Barcelona has won two UEFA Champions League titles over the past four seasons, riding the golden feet of Lionel Messi (above). Barca's home stadium, Camp Nou, has the biggest seating capacity of top European teams at 99,400. The team's broadcasting revenue of $266 million was tops among all soccer teams in 2011.

#9 New York Giants
Value: $1.3 billion
Owners: John Mara, Steven Tisch
The Giants celebrated their second Super Bowl title in five seasons in February, led by MVP Eli Manning (above). MetLife acquired naming rights to the New Meadowlands Stadium last year, filling a glaring hole in the stadium's financial picture from when it opened in 2010. MetLife was paying $7 million annually as a cornerstone partner, but the naming-rights deal is expected to cost more than $400 million over 25 years. It would represent the biggest naming-rights deal for a current NFL stadium (Farmers Insurance has pledged $23 million per year if a new stadium is built in Los Angeles). The stadium, home to both the Giants and Jets, is scheduled to host the 2014 Super Bowl.

#10 Arsenal FC
Value: $1.29 billion
Owner: Stan Kroenke
Arsenal has won the second-most FA Cups (10), just one fewer than Manchester United. Match day revenue of $150 million in 2011 was fourth highest among soccer teams.The Gunners' commercial revenue was $74 million in 2011, but got a boost last season due to new sponsorship agreements with brewer Carlsberg and Betsson, the gaming company.

REPORT ACCORDING TO FORBES
Meanwhile, Manchester United fans will once again get a chance to own a piece of the iconic club as the Glazer family filed plans this month for an initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange. The Glazers took the club private in 2005 in a leveraged buyout worth $1.47 billion. (The team traded on the London Stock Exchange before then.)
Don’t expect to be picking the next manager if you buy shares. The Glazers intend to keep control of the club through a dual-class share structure, where the Glazers’ shares will be worth 10 votes apiece, while the public gets one vote for each share. Dual-class shares are unusual, but a number of high-profile companies, including Facebook, LinkedIn and The New York Times, use them to retain control at the top while they sell ownership stakes to the public. With the offering, the team can reduce its hefty debt load, which stood at $663 million as of March.
Manchester United has a host of lucrative sponsorships in place. Insurer Aon pays $31 million a year to put its name on the team’s jerseys in a deal that runs through 2014. Last year, DHL Express inked a four-year deal with the club worth a reported $62 million to sponsor Manchester United’s practice jerseys. It is the first case of a practice jersey sponsorship deal for soccer in the U.K. Nike manages the team’s merchandise sales and the agreement is worth a minimum of $39 million annually for Manchester United based on overall sales in a deal through 2015.
Soccer clubs hold the top two spots among the world’s most valuable franchises, but it is American football teams that dominate the rest of the top 50. All 32 NFL teams made the cut, led by the Dallas Cowboys, worth $1.85 billion, tied with the New York Yankees for third overall. The Cowboys are the kings of the NFL thanks to their $1.2 billion stadium, which generates more than $100 million annually from premium seating and nearly $60 million from sponsors like AT&T, Bank of America, Ford Motor and PepsiCo.
The future looks even brighter for NFL teams thanks to a new labor agreement, as well as a new round of TV contracts. The league and its players endured a four-month lockout last year, but no regular season games were lost. The new collective bargaining agreement ensures labor peace for 10 years and gives owners a bigger piece of the pie, as players settled for a salary cap based on 48% of total revenues versus roughly 54% in previous years.
The NFL inked extensions to its TV deals with CBS, ESPN, Fox and NBC last year. The nine-year deals (ESPN is for eight years) start with the 2014 season and are worth $5 billion a year collectively, a 62% bump on the prior contracts. The average NFL team is worth $1.04 billion.
Major League Baseball landed seven teams on the list (same as soccer), led by the Yankees. As Forbes pointed out in a cover story earlier this year, baseball is flush with TV money thanks to a boom among regional sports networks hungry for content. The Yankees’ YES Network, which is 34% owned by the team, is the most profitable RSN in the U.S. generating more than $200 million in operating income last year. The team is also a cash cow with $330 million in ticket revenue in 2011, including luxury suites. The Red Sox had the next highest gate at $190 million.
Basketball and Formula 1 both placed two teams among the 50 most valuable franchises. The Los Angeles Lakers jumped 13 spots and are now ranked No. 35 with a value of $900 million, up 40% from last year. As with baseball, revenue growth is tied to TV. The Lakers struck a deal with Time Warner Cable beginning with the 2012-13 season valued at an average of $200 million a year, compared to $35 million under their old agreement. Time Warner will show games on two regional sports channels, one in English and one in Spanish. The Lakers have by far the biggest audience on TV, averaging 258,000 households on Fox Sports West last year.

F1 powerhouse, Ferrari, ranks No. 15 with a value of $1.1 billion, up 3% from last year. Ferrari extended its $52 million-a-year sponsorship deal this year with Spanish bank Santander. This follows Ferrari’s blockbuster extension last year with sponsor Marlboro worth as much as $500 million over three years. McLaren’s value fell 2% this year to $800 million as main backer Vodafone is reviewing its sports sponsorship commitments. McLaren would be hard pressed to replace Vodafone at comparable levels. McLaren also faces the free agency of Lewis Hamilton, who is one of the most marketable drivers in the sport. Hamilton’s contract expires at the end of 2012.