Europe

The European Handball Federation (EHF) has agreed to revamp the format of its men’s Champions League club competition, while an expanded men’s European Championships could be in place as soon as the 2020 event.

Fiba Europe, the governing body for basketball in Europe, has removed the 2014 U-18 European Championship men’s Division B competition from Donetsk, Ukraine, but has insisted that it still hopes the EuroBasket 2015 tournament will take place in the country.

The German Football Association (DFB) has announced it will develop a new purpose-built academy and headquarters, in a move that is set to keep the organisation in the city of Frankfurt.

The French Tennis Federation (FFT) has announced that women’s tournament the Open GDF Suez will move from Paris to Toulouse next year.

The European division of the International Basketball Federation, Fiba, has denied that Ukraine has given up the hosting rights to EuroBasket 2015 even though tournament director Markiyan Lubkivsky admitted yesterday (Wednesday) that he “cannot imagine” how to host the national team event next year.

The European Triathlon Union (ETU) and the German Triathlon Union (DTU) have announced the return of the ETU European Aquathlon Championships to the 2014 race calendar following a two-year hiatus.

Ukraine has given up hosting rights to the 2015 EuroBasket national team basketball competition because of the political and financial situation in the country, according to tournament director Markiyan Lubkivsky.

The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) has confirmed the addition of new franchises in the Russian cities of Sochi and Tolyatti, along with its first Finnish team in the shape of Jokerit.

UK Sport, the national high-performance sports agency, has announced that weightlifting will have its funding as a ‘World Class Programme’ restored, but the withdrawal of money from six other sports, including basketball, remains in place.

The World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) has announced the host cities for the eight World Taekwondo GP series events and two World Taekwondo GP finals in 2014 and 2015.

The Lagardere Unlimited Stadium Solutions (LUSS) arm of media conglomerate Lagardere has reached an agreement in principle to take over control of Stockholm’s Friends Arena, which has been hit by problems since opening in October 2012.

SportAccord Convention has announced the JTA agency as a silver partner of the upcoming 2014 Convention, which takes place in Belek/Antalya, Turkey.

The French Tennis Federation (FFT) has appointed the Lagardère Unlimited sports marketing division of media conglomerate Lagardère to provide consultancy services to help improve online advertising for the French Open at Roland Garros in Paris.

The Fédération Française de Basketball (FFBB), the sport’s governing body in France, has submitted an offer to replace crisis-hit Ukraine as the host country of the EuroBasket 2015 national team tournament.

Golf’s European Tour has announced a raft of changes to its Final Series, the group of tournaments ending in its season-closing World Tour Championship showpiece, following format discussions with players.

The English Premier League has formalised a partnership to work closely with the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) on social and commercial development initiatives.