Europe

The International Judo Federation (IJF) has awarded its 2015 World Championships Veterans and World Championships Kata events to Amsterdam.

Four contenders remain in the race to host the 2022 edition of the Ryder Cup after the Portuguese Golf Federation (FPG) confirmed it will no longer be submitting a bid to stage the event.

Golf’s European Tour has announced a reorganisation of its Challenge Tour development series in line with the Race to Dubai model its primary annual competition follows.

The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) has become the latest sports body to grant membership to Kosovo, while it has announced that the 2015 World Championships will become its first event to utilise LED advertising.

The Dutch Olympic Committee (NOC*NSF) is stepping up its efforts to land the 2019 European Games with a special meeting to be held at the end of the month dedicated to discussing staging the multi-sport event.

The British Triathlon national governing body has put forward Leeds to host a leg of the International Triathlon Union World Triathlon Series following a UK-wide candidate city selection process.

London-based agency RedTorch will deliver international marketing services for the World Masters Games when the multi-sport event takes place in Auckland, New Zealand in 2017.

Britain’s Conservative Party has pledged to target US major league franchises based in the country, in the event of it forming a government after next month’s General Election.

Clubs in France’s Top 14, regarded as the world’s richest rugby union competition, suffered a record total deficit of €24.2m ($25.5m) last season as player wages soared, according to a new report.

The French Tennis Federation (FFT) has confirmed that this year’s edition of the French Open at Roland Garros will feature a total prize purse of €28m ($30m), up 12 per cent on the previous year.

Russia’s Sports Ministry has been given the go-ahead to change the terms of state contracts for the development of stadiums for the 2018 Fifa World Cup, including the substitution of foreign equipment and materials for locally-sourced goods in a further bid to cut costs.

Germany’s bid for the 2022 Ryder Cup has cleared a significant hurdle after German Golf Association (DGV) members voted in favour of providing financial support to the effort.

The British Horseracing Association (BHA) believes there are “challenges and concerns” facing jump racing in the UK having announced its first comprehensive review of the sport since 2004.

Maurizio Beretta, president of Lega Serie A, has confirmed that the top-tier of Italian club football has held talks over the possibility of staging competitive matches abroad.

Paris is poised to formally join the race for the 2024 Olympics after the city council voted in favour of a bid for the event, which will be held 100 years on from the French capital’s last staging of the summer Games.

Norway’s Svein Arne Hansen has been elected as the new president of the European Athletics governing body after seeing off rival claims from France’s Jean Gracia and Antti Pihlakoski of Finland.