Europe

Marcel Cordes, the president of European operations at Repucom, is to leave the sports marketing research company by mutual agreement as part of a restructuring process.

German sportswear giant Adidas has reported a better-than-expected two per cent increase in 2014 sales and said it would meet its profit target as it announced the sale of its Rockport brand in a bid to increase its focus on the sports market.

The German Bundesliga, the top division of football in the country, has posted record cumulative turnover of €2.45bn ($3bn) for the 2013-14 competition, extending the league’s financial growth into a 10th consecutive season.

The Isle of Man Government, licence holder for historic motorcycling event the Isle of Man TT, is seeking an independent promoter to organise and commercialise the Isle of Man TT Races and Classic TT Races, with a view to developing a global Isle of Man TT Series that will launch in 2018.

The Extreme Sailing Series has announced it will return to Germany for its ninth season, as it unveiled Hamburg as a new addition to its 2015 calendar.

The IAAF, the global governing body of athletics, has admitted that the number of Russian doping cases emerging in the sport is a “major concern” after five race walkers became the latest athletes to be banned by the Russian Anti-Doping Agency.

The World Curling Federation has announced that the first World Mixed Curling Championship will take place later this year in the Swiss city of Berne from September 12-19.

Chinese conglomerate Dalian Wanda has completed its deal to acquire a 20 per cent stake in Atletico Madrid, with chairman Wang Jianlin stating the €45m ($55.8m) investment in the Spanish Liga champion bolsters the firm's efforts to build its presence in the entertainment sector.

The Berlin senate has approved a plan to hold a public referendum on September 13 if the city is selected as Germany’s applicant to bid for the hosting rights to the 2024 summer Olympic Games.

The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) has announced new events in North Korea and Bulgaria for its 2015 World Tour, with a record prize fund of $3m (€2.4m) being supplied across the 23 dates.

Spanish Liga champion Atletico Madrid is set to sell a 20 per cent stake in the football club to Chinese billionaire Wang Jianlin, according to Spanish media reports.

The appointment of an independent chairman to lead European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR), the body that operates rugby union’s top European club tournaments, could be delayed beyond March, according to the Press Association news agency.

The International Orienteering Federation (IOF) has awarded hosting rights for its events to Finland and Lithuania.

Fifa president Sepp Blatter has revealed that he has been given personal assurances from Russian President Vladimir Putin that the country’s current economic problems will not have an impact upon its ability to host the 2018 World Cup.

Samsun in Turkey has replaced Doha as an event host on the 2015 World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) Grand Prix calendar less than three weeks after the Qatari capital was named as a replacement for the Chinese city of Suzhou on the schedule.