VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Reuters) – Rusty Goepel, a long time member of the Vancouver Organising Committee’s board of directors, was named on Wednesday to fill the vacant chairman’s post for the 2010 Olympics.

Goepel replaces Jack Poole who died last month of cancer just hours after the Olympic flame for next year’s Winter Games was ignited in Greece. The opening ceremony for the event is scheduled for Feb. 12.

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Guangzhou- Indian Olympic Chief Suresh Kalmadi was reelected unopposed for the third consecutive term in Guangzhou, dureing the Asian Athletic Association’s 18th general body meeting.

Mr. Kalmadi was first elected in 2000 at Jakarta since then he has introduced many development projects in Asian Athletics including Asian All Star meet, Asian Indoor Championship and Asian Grand Prix series.

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LOS ANGELES (BUSINESS WIRE) -Peter Kenyon, former Chief Executive of Chelsea FC and Manchester United, has joined CAA Sports to lead its international efforts. Considered one of the most influential executives in global sports, Kenyon joins CAA Sports’ leadership team and will be responsible for guiding the agency’s growth overseas in such areas as athlete representation, endorsements, sports properties for sales and sponsorship, media rights, and corporate consulting, among others. Additionally, Kenyon will develop CAA Sports’ London operations, helping to build a dedicated international sales and management team.

In just three years since its inception, CAA Sports, a division of leading entertainment and sports agency Creative Artists Agency (CAA), has become the United States’ foremost player representation firm, representing more than 500 of the world’s best athletes, coaches, broadcasters, and sports personalities. CAA Sports also works in the areas of corporate marketing, broadcast rights, and sports properties sponsorships.

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KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Malaysia’s Lotus Formula One team appointed Riad Asmat as chief executive on Friday.

Asmat, who was general manager at state-owned Proton Holdings Berhard overseeing its motorsport programme, will take charge at the team included as the 13th entry on the starting grid for next season.

The Malaysian-backed team, which was launched last month, are aiming for a roll out of the new car in mid-February to test it before the season opener in Bahrain in March.

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NEW YORK (Reuters) – The LPGA Tour’s search for a full-time commissioner to rebuild relationships with sponsors and players ended on Wednesday with the appointment of former marketing executive Michael Whan.

Whan, 44, will replace Carolyn Bivens who resigned in July after several LPGA players voiced concerns about the health of the tour in the face of the economic downturn.

The position had been filled on a temporary basis by Marsha J. Evans, a member of the LPGA’s board of directors.

Whan, who has a professional background in golf, will take over in January after a transition period working with Evans.

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LONDON- London Wasps have today named Paul Harrison as their new Chief Executive Officer. Paul joins the Club on the 2nd November, following the departure of Tony Copsey, and takes up a dual CEO position for both London Wasps and Wycombe Wanderers Football Club, with whom they share their Adams Park stadium.

Paul has enjoyed a long and successful career in the banking industry, rising from the ranks of tea boy to senior executive of Barclays Bank in 30 years with the company. He has particular experience in managing and leading businesses through periods of considerable change, something which will directly translate to both the rugby and football entities. During his career in the City, Paul was Managing Director of Barclays Treasury Products where he sat on the Corporate Banking Board, Managing Director of Barclays Electronic Banking and National Head of Mid Corporate Banking. More recently, Paul has acted as a business consultant, a mentor to newly qualified graduates and a Director of various start-ups.
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Chandigarh- The newly formed Hockey Punjab has appointed former Olympian and Indian hockey captain Pargat Singh as general secretary.

Four hockey federations – including Punjab Hockey Association and the Pepsu Hockey Association have been brought under the umbrella of Hockey Punjab.

Punjab Deputy Chief Minister  and state’s sports minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, was unanimously elected president of Hockey Punjab and he named Pargat Singh, a Padma Shri awardee, as general secretary.

Pargat Singh in February this year had successfully organised the Punjab Gold Cup hockey tournament in Chandigarh, in which international teams like Germany and the Netherlands had also participated alongwith India.

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Long-time Auckland cricket stalwart Denis Currie has been named as the new President of New Zealand Cricket.

Currie’s appointment was confirmed today at the 115th Annual General Meeting of the New Zealand Cricket Board, held in Auckland. He succeeds Don Neely, who had served the maximum three one-year terms as President.

The Board also appointed two new Directors – broadcasting pioneer Bill Francis, and former High Court Judge Sir John Hansen.

These positions were created by the retirement by agreed rotation of current Directors Steve Riddell and Denis Currie, who had indicated his decision to retire as a Board Director and was not available for re-election.

In addition, Stuart Heal, who joined the Board last year to fill the casual vacancy created by Sir John Anderson’s retirement, was reappointed.

Denis Currie has been on the Board of New Zealand Cricket for 19 years, and has a long career as a contributor to cricket in New Zealand and an active supporter of grassroots cricket.  He has served as a member of the New Zealand Cricket National Coaching Committee, Director of Eden Park Management Board and a member of the New Zealand Cricket Foundation Committee.

He was Auckland Cricket Association Chairman for six years up to 1996 and is a Life Member of the Association, and of the Papatoetoe District Cricket Club.

Earlier this year he was one of 50 New Zealand recipients of the ICC Centenary Medal for voluntary service to the game.

Mr Currie also has a strong business background. He was managing director of nationwide transport operator Halls Refrigerated Transport from 1973 to 1997, and managing director of Masonry Distributors (Auckland) Ltd from 1997 to 2007.

New NZC Director Bill Francis is General Manager Talk Programming with the Radio Network, a position he has held since 1993.

Mr Francis has an extensive background in sports broadcasting, having been an Editor of Sport with Radio New Zealand, attending seven Olympic and Commonwealth Games as a commentator or producer.

He was also a cricket commentator for 14 years in Hamilton, Dunedin and Auckland. Mr Francis has been a director of Auckland Cricket Association since 2005, and is a trustee of the Auckland Cricket Development Fund and an Academy Member of the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame.

Sir John Hansen KNZM is an internationally respected lawyer and judge.  After a career as a barrister and solicitor in Dunedin, he served as a Judge in the Hong Kong Judiciary in the 1980s, then as a Judge of the High Court of New Zealand from 1995 to 2008.

In 2007 he served as the Chairman of the final appeals committee for the Rugby World Cup, and in 2009 was appointed to the NZRFU Appeal Council and the IRB Judicial Panel.  He was appointed Code of Conduct Commissioner by the International Cricket Council in 2007.

Sir John has been president of the Willows Cricket Club in Christchurch since 2003.  He was made a Distinguished Companion of The New Zealand Order of Merit in 2008 and reinvested as KNZM earlier this year.

Today’s AGM also awarded a life membership to Sir John Anderson, who was Chairman of New Zealand Cricket from 1995 to 2008.

MALAYSIA – Shawn Hunter, President/CEO of Chivas USA, a leader in American Major League Soccer, has joined the Board of Total Sports Asia.  Mr. Hunter is a world authority in sports marketing and has held senior positions with some of the top US national sports franchises and corporate sectors in his career.

The appointment of Mr Hunter and the recent investor partnership agreement with Nectar Capital of the UK signals the clear intention of TSA to be the dominant force in sports marketing in Asia for a long time. The company, which started in Malaysia, is already Asia’s leading sports marketing agency with offices in Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Shanghai, Beijing, Tokyo, Mumbai and Delhi.

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MILAN (Reuters) – Giovanni Cobolli Gigli will leave as Juventus president with chief executive Jean Claude Blanc assuming the role, the club’s owner said on Tuesday.

Cobolli Gigli took over in a management shakeup after the 2006 match-fixing scandal in which Juve were stripped of the 2005 and 2006 Serie A titles and demoted to the second tier.

Unlike most millionaire Italian soccer presidents, Cobolli Gigli does not own Juve and was appointed to represent the club at meetings. His tenure is running out and will not be renewed.

The Turin club, now back in the upper echelons of Serie A and the Champions League, is controlled by the investment firm of Italy’s powerful Agnelli family.

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