Europe

The European Olympic Committees (EOC) has revealed a series of financial initiatives which aim to ensure that leading athletes compete in the inaugural European Games, to be held in 2015 in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Stockholm’s proposed bid to host the 2022 winter Olympic Games has been scrapped after the Swedish city’s ruling Moderate party refused to support the project.

Ticket sales and distribution company Ticketmaster has launched in Belgium after parent company Live Nation Entertainment completed the acquisition of the existing Ticketnet computerised ticketing network platform.

Ross Hair, managing director of sports broadcast giant ESPN’s operations in EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa), is leaving at the end of the month, SportBusiness International understands.

Dmitry Chernyshenko, the president and chief executive of the local organising committee for Sochi’s 2014 winter Olympics, has revealed that about 30 per cent of tickets remain unsold less than a month before the start of the Games.

SportAccord Convention has announced that Brian Cookson, the president of the International Cycling Union (UCI), and freerunning pioneer Sébastien Foucan will be among the speakers during the 2014 event in Belek/Antalya, Turkey.

The Munich state court confirmed today (Thursday) that Formula One chief executive Bernie Ecclestone will face charges over payments to a German banker when the motor-racing series was sold to private equity group CVC Capital Partners in 2005.

Formula One team Lotus has confirmed that talks have ended with potential investor Quantum Motorsport, but chairman Gerard Lopez has maintained the motor racing outfit’s financial future is secure.

International Olympic Committee member Gian-Franco Kasper has been told by one of Russia’s most powerful men to back up his claims of corruption during the construction phase ahead of the Sochi 2014 winter Olympic Games or face legal consequences.

The main creditor of financially-embattled Spanish Liga team Valencia, Bankia, has received “multiple offers” for the top-tier football club after the expiry of yesterday’s deadline for bids.

Toronto should wait until it has hosted the 2015 Pan American Games before deciding whether it wants to bid to host the 2024 Olympic Games, according to the city’s Mayor, Rob Ford.

Leading Spanish Liga football club Barcelona has revealed that it paid €40m ($54.4m) to a company owned by the parents of Neymar as part of the transfer deal to acquire the Brazilian forward in June 2013.

Havas Sports & Entertainment (HS&E), the brand engagement network of the Havas Group, has announced the relocation of its president and global chief executive, Lucien Boyer, from Paris to London as part of efforts to situate senior management closer to key clients.

Snowboarding ace Shaun White has acquired a controlling stake in the sport’s Austrian Air & Style series.

The International Judo Federation (IJF) has agreed a three-year deal with the Hungarian Judo Association for Budapest to host a Judo Grand Prix from 2014 to 2016.

Lega Serie A president Maurizio Beretta has said the organisation is considering returning to an 18-team format in the top division of Italian football.