Global

German sportswear company Puma has posted a 33-per-cent increase in operating profit to continue its financial improvement on the back of a year of major sporting events.

The International Air Sports Federation (FAI) has announced plans to launch a new multi-discipline Air Games Tour next year.

Spanish LaLiga football club Real Madrid has reached an agreement in principle worth around €500m ($537m) with US private equity investment firm Providence Equity Partners for its global internet image rights, according to El Confidencial.

An internal investigation of world football’s governing body, Fifa, has detailed wrongdoing beyond the corruption alleged last year by US prosecutors, according to Bloomberg.

The International Association of Athletics Federations has frozen all athlete nationality switches with immediate effect and upheld its ban on Russian athletes.

British heavyweight boxer Anthony Joshua has signed a long-term extension to his endorsement deal with US sportswear and equipment brand Under Armour.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) will make a final decision on a new financial and governance structure at a meeting in April after agreeing “in principle” to reverse a move to put the boards of Australia, England and India in charge of the game’s administration.

Sports and betting-related services company Sportradar has further bolstered its portfolio of partners by agreeing a deal with world football’s governing body, Fifa.

A report issued by the European Sport Security Association (ESSA) has found that tennis was responsible for more than three quarters of all cases of suspicious betting activity during 2016.

Nick Davies, a key former aide to International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) president Sebastian Coe, has been expelled from the organisation after admitting to failing to disclose cash payments during its scandal-hit previous administration.

World Sailing has announced that the global governing body’s headquarters will move from Southampton to London later this year.

Sankar Jayaram, the co-founder, president and chief executive of Voke VR, on the role of virtual reality in sport and the future of his company following its acquisition by Intel in late 2016.

Sebastian Coe, the president of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), has denied suggestions that he misled a UK Parliamentary Committee investigating doping in sport.

Senior officials from the NHL have said the North American ice hockey league is likely to pass on participating in the 2018 winter Olympic Games unless there is major movement in talks, while the prospect of introducing jersey sponsorship has also been dismissed.

Erich Wolf is the chief executive of the Red Bull Air Race, a young World Championship that has already attracted a significant global following.

The International Cycling Union (UCI) has awarded hosting rights for its 2019 Cyclo-cross World Championships to the Danish town of Bogense, while it has unveiled an expanded calendar for the discipline’s 2017-18 World Cup season.