Asia

Golf’s Asian Tour has said it will resume talks over a proposed merger with the European Tour after appointing Jimmy Masrin as its board chairman today (Friday).

The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) has urged the PyeongChang Organising Committee for the 2018 Olympic and Paralympic winter Games (POCOG) to raise awareness of the winter Paralympic brand as the South Korean city gears up to host the Games in two years’ time.

The International Basketball Federation (Fiba) has awarded hosting rights to Italy, Serbia and the Philippines for its three Olympic men’s qualifying tournaments, while France will stage the women’s event.

The International Ski Federation (FIS) has given its approval for the upcoming alpine skiing test event for the 2018 PyeongChang winter Olympic Games to take place following an acceleration of work on site.

Gestifute, the powerful football agency founded by influential Portuguese agent Jorge Mendes, has entered into a wide-ranging strategic partnership with Foyo Culture and Entertainment, a subsidiary of Chinese investment conglomerate Fosun International.

Chinese conglomerate Dalian Wanda has said it is planning five “substantial” acquisitions in the sports and entertainment sectors this year after reporting on its financial results for 2015 and outlining its targets for the coming 12 months.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has handed bans to two former players in relation to the spot-fixing scandal that hit the 2013 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), while Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has suspended a bowling coach for the national team amid allegations concerning an attempt to fix a Test match against the West Indies last year.

Asian Football Confederation (AFC) president Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa has fired back at criticism from fellow Fifa presidential candidate Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein of the partnership signed between the governing body and the Confederation of African Football (CAF), describing the Jordanian’s comments as starting an “unnecessary spat”.

Kengo Kuma, the architect behind the new vision for Tokyo’s main stadium for the 2020 Olympic Games, has hit back at allegations from British-Iraqi designer Zaha Hadid that his masterplan borrows elements from her original blueprints, while also hinting that the venue could yet play a part in Japan’s staging of the 2019 Rugby World Cup.

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) have strengthened their ties by signing a wide-ranging four year partnership.

The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games organising committee has labelled allegations in a World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) report into doping in athletics as “beyond our understanding,” as International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) president Sebastian Coe pledged to act on the “totally abhorrent” levels of corruption unearthed in the findings.

Korean Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn has vowed to strengthen the monitoring of major state projects as part of an effort to pre-emptively combat any threat of corruption during preparations for the PyeongChang 2018 winter Olympic Games.

The CAA Premium Experience division of sports and entertainment giant Creative Artists Agency (CAA) has agreed an exclusive partnership with leading Chinese sports hospitality and event management company iRENA International.

The Wanda Sports Holdings division of Chinese conglomerate Dalian Wanda has confirmed the Chinese city of Hefei will stage an Ironman triathlon series event later this year.

German sportswear manufacturer Adidas has signed Tomáš Berdych to become its new men’s tennis figurehead, while Kei Nishikori has agreed a lucrative extension to his partnership with Japanese clothing company Uniqlo.

International Judo Federation (IJF) president Marius Vizer has said six cities are in contention to stage its 2018 and 2019 World Championships, and has maintained North Korea remains a “genuine contender” to host the 2017 Junior World Championships.