TOP 100 SPORT SITES
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| Roberto Mancini outlines plan to shift the balance of power in Manchester Some would argue that Roberto Mancini is setting himself up for a fall at Manchester City by making all manner of bold — or rash — predictions. The Italian sees it differently. feeds.timesonline.co.uk |
Portsmouth fail to pay players again Portsmouth expect to pay their players' December salaries on January 5. The club had hoped the outstanding player salaries would be processed today, but the monies will now be cleared after the Bank Holiday. feeds.timesonline.co.uk |
St. Louis out as World Cup soccer game host St. Louis is out as a host for the World Cup soccer games in 2018 and 2022. feeds.bizjournals.com |
Rafael Nadal blocking path to glory for Andy Murray at Australian Open If Andy Murray is to win his first grand-slam tournament at the seventeenth attempt here, he will have to do it the hard way. feeds.timesonline.co.uk |
Bell says future is diring without reforms • Ladbrokes' chief executive urges swift action from sport• Racing For Change board promise more initiatives in offingOne of the betting industry's most senior figures has urged horse racing to speed up its efforts at connecting with a wider audience before it is too late. Chris Bell, chief executive of Ladbrokes, suggested the sport was in danger of "disappearing below the waves" if action was not taken to address its popularity."We do support the Racing For Change initiative," Bell said, in reference to the sport's current project aimed at Âimproving its appeal. "My plea has always been, could it just be a little bit faster, please? It's no good if it's pulled by a shire horse. We need Nijinsky out there and get the damned thing going."People used to start betting by betting on horse racing. They'd knock off their shift at 2pm and they'd go up to the Âbetting shop, or, if you were in the colliery, they used to have a bookie's runner at the top of the mine shaft."These days, nine out of 10 people who start betting do it on a machine or a virtual product. I don't say that with glee. That's why I say we have to move faster. Speed is of the essence, here. We can't afford too many more Âmeetings. We need something to get our hands around," said Bell, who was sceptical about the worth of recently announced initiatives, including the Âdecimalisation of odds."That might be part of it but where is the big idea that we can all start working on? We need some impetus."Rod Street, project manager of Racing For Change, said he sympathised with Bell's concern but argued that decisions affecting an entire sport could not be taken at anything like the kind of speed that would satisfy a powerful chief Âexecutive."It needed significant consultation among our stakeholders before we could take anything forward and that's why the early pace has been slow," he said. "But now we have general support for Âbroadening the appeal of racing and Âtaking measures to underpin the health of the sport, so the pace will pick up. Every few weeks over the course of this year, we're planning to bring to life another swath of ideas that have been developed over the last year to 18 months."The racing world will be getting used to regular announcements and we will have something more in a few weeks' time. The train is now moving."Rather than attempt to satisfy Bell's demand for a big idea, Street said the focus was on "doing a multitude of things differently". He claimed that, even if the decimalisation of odds achieves little, the sport gained useful exposure from the debate provoked by the idea.Bell made his comments as he released a report on the betting industry's contribution to the British economy, which has been assessed at £6bn in gross value added by Deloitte. Ladbrokes had commissioned the report, Bell said, to assist in negotiations with government over the taxation of their offshore operations and to "show what a large industry this is".Horse racingChris Cookguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |