Europe

A consortium of London-based Irish businessmen headed by Mick Crossan has acquired a majority shareholding in English Premiership rugby union team London Irish.

German banking group BayernLB is planning to bring a $400m (€294m) damages claim against Formula One Group chief executive Bernie Ecclestone in London next month, according to the Reuters news agency.

Spanish Liga football club Valencia faces the prospect of being put up for sale in a bid to resolve its long-standing financial problems.

The Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) has announced the appointment of its first-ever female president with Cathie Sabin stepping up from the deputy president position.

Rugby Football Union chief executive Ian Ritchie has said he is optimistic that a pan-European rugby union competition can be salvaged for next season.

The Russian Premier League has launched a “closed competition” to draw up a development strategy for the top division of Russian football.

The organising committee of the Sochi 2014 winter Olympic Games has confirmed to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) that at least one specific protest zone will be set up for demonstrators during the event.

Alex Horne, the general secretary of the Football Association, the sport’s governing body in England, believes ‘fixing’ matches is not a widespread occurrence in the English game, but has warned against complacency in the fight against corruption.

The Jockey Club, the largest commercial group in British horse racing, has appointed Roger Weatherby to succeed Nicholas Wrigley as its senior steward for a term of five years.

Spanish Liga football club Barcelona expects to make a definitive decision on the future of its Nou Camp stadium in January, with officials currently studying the viability of two separate development proposals.

European ice hockey’s key stakeholders have announced further details about the new Champions Hockey League event, with the club competition set to debut in August 2014.

Alfons Hoermann has been elected as the new president of the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB).

Russian state-owned energy giants Gazprom and the Federal Grid Company will assume responsibility for several venues for the 2014 winter Olympic Games in Sochi, according to the Kommersant newspaper.

English top-tier Premiership rugby union clubs have confirmed they will refuse to participate in a revamped Heineken Cup European competition next season.

Jose Maria del Nido, the president of top-tier Spanish Liga football club Sevilla, has been sentenced to seven years in prison for embezzlement and corruption.

The German Football League (DFL) has announced that it will make a decision over the introduction of goal-line technology (GLT) in the top-tier Bundesliga and second-tier 2.Bundesliga by the end of the current season.

The National Olympic Committee of Ukraine has ratified a bid by Lviv to host the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic winter Games.

The NFL American football league has opened up a new window for its International Series games in London with the Atlanta Falcons’ clash against the Detroit Lions scheduled to kick-off at 1:30pm GMT, providing a 9:30am ET game in the US.