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0 shares 5 View comments The controversial move to stage football's 2020 European Championship in a dozen or more countries is likely to be followed by major leagues across the continent, including the Premier League, fighting any bid to reschedule the 2022 World Cup in Qatar to the winter. The 2020 decision was a summer whim by UEFA president Michel Platini and will mean tens of thousands of fans making arduous journeys to follow their teams. Making plans: UEFA President Michel Platini (left) and FIFA President Sepp Blatter A 2022 seasonal move needs to be rubberstamped by FIFA but is a strong possibility. Their president, Sepp Blatter, said in January last year that he expects a Qatar World Cup 'will be held in winter', but this is not yet FIFA's formal decision. Over the past few days, Qatar 2022's communications and marketing director, Nasser Al Khater, has confirmed: 'We bid for the World Cup to be held in summer and

4 View comments David Beckham is in talks to become the owner of a Major League Soccer club in the United States and is expected to buy a controlling interest in a team based in New York, Miami or Los Angeles. But contrary to reports from the US that Beckham will be part of deal involving Manchester City buying an MLS franchise in New York, sources close to the former England captain told Inside Sport: 'That's not really a partnership he'd envisage.' Talks: David Beckham Beckham, 37, is a lifelong Manchester United fan who played for the Old Trafford club for 10 years before moving to Real Madrid and then LA Galaxy. In his final match for Galaxy earlier this month, he helped them to win the MLS Cup. He is considering his next move and may play for one last club for a short period before turning his attention to club ownership in the US. Sources say Beckham is likely to buy a controlling stake in an MLS team in partnership with Simon Fuller, t

3 View comments The BBC hope their festive Olympic Superstars show will lead to a longer-term revival of the hit programme of the 1970s and 1980s - although one of the London 2012 athletes who features in the Christmas special jokes that he will be hiding in embarrassment when it is screened. Superstars became a family favourite as top sportsmen from Formula One's James Hunt to judo star Brian Jacks took part and through famous moments such as Kevin Keegan crashing his bike. Paddle power: Mo Farah has fun in the kayak head-to-head with Peter Wilson The Olympic special, to be screened next Saturday evening, pits 16 heroes from London 2012 against each other - from double gold-winning runner Mo Farah to boxing's Nicola Adams and Anthony Joshua, triathlon's Brownlee brothers, rower Kath Grainger and equestrian pin-up Laura Bechtolsheimer among others.

3 View comments Andy Murray would have every right to feel aggrieved for receiving ‘only’ an OBE in the New Year’s honours, but you will not find Britain’s best tennis player complaining about it — his focus is firmly on 2013, when he says his main aim, aside from winning matches, will be to retain his Fantasy Football title. Murray’s historic 2012 included Olympic singles gold and the US Open title (the first Slam title by a British man for 76 years) in tennis’s greatest era for quality bar none, as well as being voted into third place in the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award. Yet Murray’s OBE was two tiers down from the award handed to Bradley Wiggins (knighthood), a tier below the CBEs handed to Mo Farah, Jess Ennis, Victoria Pendleton and Kath Grainger, and on the same level as up-and-coming cyclist Laura Trott and dressage rider Charlotte Dujardin. Main man: Andy Murray was honoured with an OBE after his winning season

6 View comments Clark Carlisle, chairman of the Professional Footballers' Association, has told Inside Sport that he will support any player in English football who walks off the pitch after being subjected to racist abuse - as  former Spurs and Portsmouth midfielder Kevin-Prince Boateng did when playing in a friendly for Milan in Italy last week. 'I will always back a player who walks off because he doesn't feel the situation is being dealt with by the referees, by warnings over the Tannoy or by offenders being thrown out,' said Carlisle. Everybody off! Kevin-Prince Boateng gestures at abusive fans But he criticised the Football Association's new plans to combat racism as being 'too flowery' and lacking 'any definitive detail'. Last month the FA said players, coaches and clubs in England will face tougher penalties for racist behaviour 'to ensure the game is inclusive and free of discrimination'.  Boateng, a Ghana interna

6 View comments Albania has joined North Korea in becoming only the second country in the world where broadcasters have not been invited to tender for live Premier League games as the world's richest football competition does everything in its power to stop TV piracy. New TV deals in more than 200 overseas nations will earn Premier League clubs more than £2billion for the three-year cycle from 2013-2016 inclusive, bringing in around £5.5bn in total from TV when domestic deals with Sky and BT are included. This cash is largely spent on massive salaries for stars from Robin Van Persie to Wayne Rooney, Carlos Tevez to Demba Ba. Scroll down for more Big draw: Stars like Robin Van Persie pull in the viewers But the TV deals keep their value only when piracy is kept to a minimum - and imported decoders from Albania have become a major problem in Britain, where it is currently possible to watch Albanian TV's live coverage of Premier League games.

5 View comments Footballer Michael Chopra was one of nine people handed lengthy bans from horseracing on Friday over alleged corruption, but sources have told Inside Sport that he is just one of many England players from different age groups who have suffered ‘serious gambling-related issues’ in the past decade. ‘From players who’ve played for England to those in the non-league, gambling is ruining lives,’ said a source. ‘When things become desperate, it’s not unusual to see people take desperate measures to clear their debts.’ Ipswich striker Chopra, 29 and a former England Under 21 international, was disqualified for 10 years from any involvement in racing following a long investigation by the British Horseracing Authority. Disqualified from racing: Michael Chopra (left) and James Coppinger have been banned from racecourses for 10 years Another former England Under 21 player, ex-Manchester United midfielder Mark Wilson, 33, has also been disqualified from involvement

Despite public health progress in cutting calories, as well as salt and fat from fast foods and supermarket products, neighborhood restaurants are still packing big helpings of each into their meals, a trio of studies suggests. Small independent eateries are not required to display nutritional information for consumers - if they did, the researchers report, patrons would routinely see single meals containing nearly a full day's worth of calories and fat plus one and half times the daily recommended intake for salt.   "It's really a disgrace. Every day the newspapers say things about the obesity epidemic… To a large extent, you can trace that to too many calories," said Susan Roberts, director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Energy Metabolism Lab and professor of nutrition at Tufts University, in Boston. About two thirds of Americans are considered overweight or obese, according to the U.S. National Institutes of Health. And as American waistlines continue t

Japan's Universal Entertainment Corp booked a charge on Monday against a $25 million payment at the centre of a FBI investigation into possible bribery in the Philippines, saying there was no reason for the payment to have been made. _0"> Universal had previously booked the $25 million as a payment to Rodolfo Soriano, a consultant with ties to the former head of the Philippine gaming regulator, to secure land development rights for its $2-billion casino project on Manila Bay. The company said in its annual earnings statement on Monday that an accounting expert hired to look into the matter had determined there was no need to have made the $25 million payment to Soriano. In March, in response to questions from Reuters, Universal said it had determined that the land development rights had been obtained for free in 2009. As a result, it said there was no basis for the payment to have been made in 2010. The revised accounting marked the second time the company has change

5 View comments Oscar Pistorius and Iwan Thomas have trained together, socialised together and been firm friends for the best part of a decade. And during all that time, says the former British 400metre champion, he has never once seen the Blade Runner with a gun. The image painted in some quarters of Pistorius as a gun enthusiast who regularly frequents shooting ranges as a way of releasing pent-up emotions is not one that chimes with Thomas. Scroll down for more Case for the defence: Oscar Pistorius at his bail hearing 'I've never seen Oscar with a gun, he has never mentioned guns and, apart from thinking it was likely he would own a firearm to protect himself at home, I have no knowledge of any history between Oscar and guns,' Thomas told Inside Sport.     More from Nick Harris...   Nick Harris: Mu

A European Union law up for a vote on Monday will only fully shield taxpayers from bailing out troubled banks if there is a global framework as well, a top UK regulator said on Monday. Bank of England Deputy Governor Paul Tucker said the EU law on bank recovery and resolution would be a milestone towards a global system and help convince markets that governments were no longer willing to rescue "too big to fail" lenders.   Since governments had to shore up banks during the 2007-09 financial crisis, regulators have wanted to stop markets assuming big banks would not be allowed to go out of business. The European Parliament's economic affairs committee holds a first vote in Strasbourg, France at 1830 GMT. It has joint say with EU states on the law that gives regulators powers to impose losses on creditors, replace management and take other steps when a bank gets into trouble. In a speech in the Netherlands, Tucker said there had been "marked convergence" rec

0 shares 5 View comments The reason David Beckham is so comfortable at not earning a single penny from his current spell at Paris Saint-Germain — not from salary, image rights or merchandise money — will be clear when the companies he owns publish their financial accounts.  Inside Sport can reveal the former England captain made more cash in 2012 than in any single year of his extraordinary career, with tens of millions pouring in not only from a string of lucrative endorsements but also from high-profile commercial ambassadorial roles linked to the London Olympics. Gesture: David Beckham donated his salary at Paris Saint-Germain to a local children's charity       More from Nick Harris...   Nick Harris: Murray and Co chase £1.5m as Wimbledon chiefs raise prize money to record £20m 20/04/13

XenoPort Inc said it will stop developing its experimental multiple sclerosis treatment after data from a late-stage trial showed the drug did not improve patients' condition significantly compared with a placebo.   Shares of the company were down 28 percent at $4.85 before the bell. The company said it would shut down all activities related to the drug, arbaclofen placarbil, and planned to provide an update on the impact of the expected savings. The drug did not show statistical significance compared to the placebo on two clinical scales - severity of symptoms and response to treatment, and spasticity. The drug, which was intended to treat spasticity, stiffness and involuntary multiple spasms, was tested on 228 multiple sclerosis patients in the United States. Dosages of 30 mg and 45 mg of the drug administered twice a day were compared to the placebo group. XenoPort said seven patients experienced adverse events, none of which were related to the treatment. The company sp

0 shares 127 View comments An exotic cast including Jose Mourinho’s agent, Pep Guardiola’s brother, Roman Abramovich and David Beckham’s nemesis are working on what could be the major transfer deal of the summer — bringing Liverpool pain as Chelsea gain. Chelsea want to buy one of the world’s most prolific strikers, Radamel Falcao, from Atletico Madrid. The Spanish club lie second in La Liga, just ahead of Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid. Atletico are virtually certain to qualify for next season’s Champions League. The club’s directors are planning to cash in on Colombia international Falcao at peak value and replace him with Liverpool’s Luis Suarez. On the move? Chelsea's swoop for Radamel Facao (left) could see Luis Suarez moving to replace him at Atletico Madrid ‘We won’t be making firm approaches until May but our objectives are absolutely clear,’ says an Atletico source. ‘We’ll be back at the top level in Europe and we’re not going to be shor

0 shares 127 View comments An exotic cast including Jose Mourinho’s agent, Pep Guardiola’s brother, Roman Abramovich and David Beckham’s nemesis are working on what could be the major transfer deal of the summer — bringing Liverpool pain as Chelsea gain. Chelsea want to buy one of the world’s most prolific strikers, Radamel Falcao, from Atletico Madrid. The Spanish club lie second in La Liga, just ahead of Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid. Atletico are virtually certain to qualify for next season’s Champions League. The club’s directors are planning to cash in on Colombia international Falcao at peak value and replace him with Liverpool’s Luis Suarez. On the move? Chelsea's swoop for Radamel Facao (left) could see Luis Suarez moving to replace him at Atletico Madrid ‘We won’t be making firm approaches until May but our objectives are absolutely clear,’ says an Atletico source. ‘We’ll be back at the top level in Europe and we’re not going to be shor

The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association named former Republican Senator Judd Gregg as its chief executive officer, the lobbying group said Monday. _0"> The appointment of the veteran politician, who also was governor of New Hampshire and a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, continues a growing trend of legislators, financial regulators, bank executives and lobbyists moving back and forth among the channels.   Former Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Mary Schapiro last month joined Promontory Financial Group, a Washington lobbying firm founded by former Comptroller of the Currency Eugene Ludwig. The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, or SIFMA, also named its acting president and chief executive Kenneth Bentsen Jr. as president. He is a former Texas congressman and nephew of former Texas Democratic Senator Lloyd Bentsen. Bentsen in February replaced Timothy Ryan, a banker and former regulator who resigned as presiden

Peregrine Pharmaceuticals said it reached an agreement with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on the design of a late-stage trial for its experimental lung cancer drug. _0"> The late-stage trial will compare a combination of chemotherapy and the drug, bavituximab, with chemotherapy alone. The main goal of the trial would be to show an improvement in overall survival of patients.   Peregrine shares were up 19 percent at $1.83 in early trade on Monday on the Nasdaq . Bavituximab is being developed to treat second-line non-small-cell lung cancer and multiple other cancers. "We look forward to finalizing the clinical protocol and initiating the global Phase III trial by year-end," Joseph Shan, vice president of clinical and regulatory affairs, said in a statement. Peregrine went through tough times last year after it found discrepancies in the results of a mid-stage trial testing bavituximab in non-small-cell lung cancer. Following the discovery of errors in

0 shares 5 View comments West Ham have reached an agreement with an offshore lending company in the British Virgin Islands to borrow all £60million of their next season's Premier League television money in advance, Inside Sport can reveal. The deal with the Vibrac Corporation was sealed six months ago on September 10, and the associated paperwork, which has been filed at Companies House, shows Vibrac have effectively become a 'payday loan' firm for the Hammers to help them manage their debts, which currently stand at a net £70m. Astonishingly, one source claims the practice of mortgaging TV revenue is becoming 'really common in the Premier League'. Betting on the future: West Ham owners David Gold (left) and David Sullivan He added: 'We think there are six other clubs currently doing it.' If West Ham retain their Premier League status as expected, their income from Premier League TV cash alone will be at least £60m in