Scottish Premier League (SPL) outfit Heart of Midlothian is poised to go into administration, the club has confirmed.

The crisis-hit club has lodged papers at the Court of Session in its home city of Edinburgh and is understood to have approached accountancy firm KPMG to act as its administrator. A club spokesman told the Press Association Sport news agency: “We are not in administration yet but we have served our intention to appoint administrators.” A hearing is expected to take place this week, with a number of Hearts’ creditors informed of the latest developments.

Monday’s news comes after Hearts were last week faced with a winding-up order as Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) threatened action over an unpaid £100,000 tax bill. The majority of that sum has since been paid, but the club was then placed under an immediate transfer embargo by the SPL after admitting it could not afford to pay its players. Hearts’ board on Thursday issued a statement saying that it had entered a “critical” stage in its bid to pay off debts of £25 million, along with financing tax and running costs. Hearts reportedly needs to raise £500,000 to see it through to the start of the 2013-14 season and last week placed its entire playing squad up for sale.

Hearts owner Vladimir Romanov claims to have invested around £60 million in the team, but he first announced his intention to sell the club in 2011 after becoming increasingly disillusioned with football. The status of the two Lithuanian companies which hold large stakes in Hearts has also increased fears for the future of the club. Majority shareholder UBIG owns a 50% stake in the club and Ukio Bankas a 29.9% share. Both were once controlled by Romanov but are poised to be declared insolvent by Kaunas-based authorities. Ukio Bankas lost an appeal against liquidation last week and is due £15 million by Hearts, who also owe another £10 million to UBIG.

German 1.Bundesliga giant Borussia Dortmund has furthered its historic ties with the Brinkhoff’s brewery by signing a five-year extension to its partnership with the company.

Brinkhoff’s previous deal with Dortmund, which entailed its No.1 brand serving as a ‘champion partner’ of the club, was due to expire in 2015. However, the agreement has now been extended through to June 30, 2020.

Borussia Dortmund was named after the city’s Borussia brewery when the club was founded in 1909. Brinkhoff’s No.1 is brewed on the site where the Borussia brewery once stood. The agreement ensures Brinkhoff’s continues as one of 11 champion partners. This is Dortmund’s top sponsor tier below that of the club’s three main partners – Evonik, Signal Iduna and Puma.

Stadium naming rights partner Signal Iduna also has a place in the champion partner tier, alongside Opel, Sparda-Bank, Sprehe, Hankook, Flyeralarm, Wilo, Yanmar, West Lotto and Turkish Airlines.

English Premier League club Sunderland has extended its African ties by partnering with US energy firm Symbion Power to build what it claims will be a groundbreaking new football academy in the Tanzanian capital, Dar es Salaam.

Initial plans for the project were unveiled at an event in Sunderland attended by Tanzanian President, Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete. The project aims to bring football facilities to thousands of local youngsters in Dar es Salaam, with an elite-level facility also planned to help Tanzania’s development on the world footballing stage. Sunderland will provide both building expertise and coaching support.

“The first stage involves us working with Symbion Power to build a community-type academy, allowing many children to come and enjoy playing the game,” Sunderland chief executive Margaret Byrne told the club’s official website. “They will be able to play under floodlights and realise their dream of playing on football pitches. The second stage involves us working together with Symbion and possibly other conglomerates to build an elite academy. We will assist with the various models we use here at the Academy of Light and also with the knowledge we’ve gained from the EPPP (Elite Player Performance Plan) project too.”

The new partnership comes after Sunderland last month announced that food service company BFS Group will become its new principal partner and shirt sponsor from the 2013-14 season. BFS Group is the main UK operation of the Bidvest Group, which is headquartered in South Africa. Sunderland has a growing affiliation with the African continent, which commenced with its link up with the Invest in Africa initiative and recent collaboration with the Nelson Mandela Foundation. Commenting on the club’s strategy, Byrne added: “Our sponsorship deal with Invest in Africa really catapulted the club onto the continent. Now we have a partnership with Bidvest, a major South African conglomerate, Bidvest Wits Football Club and also Asante Kotoko in Ghana. We’re taking baby steps. We want to make sure any work we are doing is proper and that we’re getting our hands dirty and really getting involved.”

New Zealand Football has claimed a new television deal with pay-television broadcaster Sky New Zealand covering national team games between June and November will help provide it with a self-sufficient business model this year.

The package deal with Sky guarantees that eight men’s and six women’s national team matches will be screened live between June and November. NZ Football has previously had to pay big fees for games to be televised – a factor that contributes to the organisation’s business model consistently running at a loss.

NZ Football has suffered from poor ticket sales for its home games meaning that its finances have been balanced by transfers from an International Teams Activity Reserve, set up in 2010 after a NZ$10 million (US$8 million) windfall in prize money through New Zealand’s qualification for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. However, the initial reserve of NZ$2.5 million is down to NZ$400,000 after NZ$828,000 was transferred in 2011 and NZ$1.2 million in the last financial year. NZ Football chief executive Grant McKavanagh said the Sky deal should help ease the cost of hosting internationals, creating more advertising and promotional opportunities and alleviating considerable fees.

“I can’t go into details, but the new deal with Sky puts us in a position where we feel there’s respect on each side in terms of payment,” he told the Star-Times newspaper. “Now, it’s turned around so that they pay us. Sky wants subscriptions and one-off games don’t do that. We need to go to them with a package and are selling in six-month lots. Now they can advertise as the home of New Zealand football. If we do make it to Brazil (for the 2014 World Cup) our financial health is guaranteed for another four years, but the key is still a sustainable business model.”

The Confederation of North, Central America and the Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) and its commercial agency, Traffic Sports, have signed up State Farm as the official auto and home insurance sponsor for the 2013 Gold Cup, which kicks off in the United States next month.

State Farm returns to back the Gold Cup after supporting the past three editions of the biannual national team competition. “We welcome State Farm back to the Gold Cup family, not just as a sponsor, but as a key marketing partner which has helped us position the tournament as the premier national team competition in our region,” said Enrique Sanz, general secretary of CONCACAF. “State Farm’s creative activations throughout their vast footprint in the United States and Canada will once again prove invaluable as passionate Gold Cup fans continue to connect and experience the event off the field.”

State Farm marketing assistant vice-president Tim van Hoof added: “Soccer is a passion for many fans around the world. Reaching fans where it speaks to them is the best way to start a conversation and we are pleased to have the opportunity to work with the Gold Cup again this year.”

The 2013 Gold Cup will visit eight new venues and six new cities from July 7-28 as CONCACAF bids to expand the reach of the tournament in the United States. The US has staged all 11 editions of the biannual Gold Cup to date. Along with Atlanta’s Georgia Dome and Baltimore’s M&T Bank Stadium, making their Gold Cup debuts will be Sports Authority Field at Mile High in Denver, Rentschler Field in East Hartford, BBVA Compass Stadium in Houston, Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens, JELD-WEN Field in Portland and Rio Tinto Stadium in Salt Lake City. Six new Gold Cup cities are featured in this group of newcomers, including Atlanta, Baltimore, Denver, Hartford, Portland and Salt Lake City.

Arsenal has announced the appointment of Sir Chips Keswick as the Premier League club’s new chairman, following Peter Hill-Wood’s decision to stand down from the board due to health reasons.

Hill-Wood, who has been Arsenal chairman since 1982, is recovering after a heart attack last year. His departure ends a long family connection to the North London club, with Hill-Wood’s grandfather, Sir Samuel, and father, Denis, serving as Arsenal’s previous chairmen in a period stretching back to 1927. The 77-year-old said: “This has been a difficult decision as Arsenal Football Club has been a huge part of my life. Although I am feeling better I feel this is the right time for me to stand down. I would like to thank our majority owner, Stan Kroenke, for the respectful and dignified way he has handled this and I know Sir Chips is the right person to take the club forward.”

Hill-Wood joined the Arsenal board in 1962 when his father became chairman. A lifelong fan, Keswick, 73, has served on the board since 2005. He is the former chairman of Hambros Bank and a director of the Bank of England. In his role as chairman, Arsenal said Keswick will work directly with chief executive Ivan Gazidis on the club’s football and business ambitions.

Keswick said: “Firstly, I am sad to see Peter standing down due to his health and we all hope he continues well in his recovery. The Hill-Wood family has made an extraordinary contribution to Arsenal over many decades. They have been central to the club’s many achievements during this time. I am greatly honoured to have been appointed chairman of Arsenal Football Club. This is one of the great clubs in the game, recognised and loved by millions. I am looking forward to leading the club to future success.”

The Fox International Channels broadcast subsidiary of Rupert Murdoch’s media conglomerate News Corporation is drawing up an ambitious plan to launch a summer competition featuring Europe’s top clubs with games to be played across the world, according to The Guardian.

The newspaper reports the proposal would see a 16-team competition run for 10 years with a potential start date of 2015 in the close season when clubs traditionally play friendly matches. Leading clubs such as Manchester United, Chelsea, FC Barcelona, Real Madrid and Bayern Munchen would be invited to take part in the competition.

Matches would be aired on Murdoch’s group of global television networks, with cities from Europe, Asia and the Americas understood to be bidding to host games. The Guardian reports approaches have been made to a number of cities by executives from Fox International to explore partnerships to host games. However, the proposal is at its early stages. “One of the major issues is if it gets to the stage of trying to pull the empire together and paying what they think is a fair share,” a source told the newspaper.

The latest report comes after the Qatar Football Association in March “categorically” denied the involvement of any official Qatari football bodies in the reported launch of a ‘Dream Football League’ featuring Europe’s leading clubs. The Guardian’s fellow UK newspaper The Times reported that the Qatar-backed League would be staged every two years and feature 24 teams, however it later emerged that the report was false. Organisers were said to be seeking a launch date of the summer of 2015 with the intention of providing a serious rival for the likes of the UEFA Champions League and FIFA Club World Cup. The supposed League was said to comprise 16 permanent clubs, including the likes of Manchester United, Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain, as well as eight “invitees”, and be hosted in Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and United Arab Emirates.

The build-up to the opening match of the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup in Brasilia on Saturday witnessed protests about the high cost of Brazil’s staging of the 2014 World Cup.

The Associated Press reported that around 1,000 protesters demonstrated in front of the National Stadium just hours before Brazil defeated Japan 3-0. Riot and mounted police were called up to keep demonstrators from getting too close to the stadium, with 15 arrests made. The game wasn’t affected as protestors demonstrated against the local government, stating too much money was being spent on the World Cup while the majority of the population continued to struggle. “We are demanding more respect to the population,” said 21-year-old Vinicius de Assis, one of the protesters. “They are building these overpriced stadiums and are not worrying about the situation of their own people.”

FIFA also came under fire for the supposed demands it is making on the Brazilian government, while ticket prices were also a source of discontent. “I’m upset that all public money for construction, hospitals and schools is being used to build stadiums without any utility,” said student Ana Leticia Ribeiro. “After the World Cup, no one will use this.” Brasilia’s stadium was the most expensive out of the six Confederations Cup venues, with a price tag of around US$600 million.

Protests against rising bus and subway fares have also taken place in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo in recent weeks and Sunday’s game between Italy and Mexico at the Maracana was also marred by protests.  However, FIFA on Friday said it has “full confidence” that Brazilian authorities can manage disorder in the streets.

Leading Polish Ekstraklasa club Lech Poznan has agreed a five-year deal that sees telecommunications firm INEA assume the naming rights to its stadium.

The deal was struck with the club, which finished runner-up in the Ekstraklasa last season, and Marcelin Management, which operates the stadium. The 43,000-seat venue was opened in September 2010; making it the first Polish stadium to be ready for the country’s co-hosting of UEFA Euro 2012. The facility, which cost Eur180 million to develop, will now be known as the INEA Stadium.

“The stadium, like our services, releases positive energy and brings people together,” said president of INEA, Janusz Kosinski. “We are convinced that the title sponsorship of the stadium will enhance our image and build brand recognition for INEA.”

President of Lech Poznan and Marcelin Management, Karol Klimczak, added: “INEA Stadium is a meeting place, provides fantastic entertainment for the whole family and more often – serious business discussions. I am very pleased that we finished the negotiations successfully and also thank all other partners for their interest, time and energy spent on our conversations.”

The Scottish Premier League (SPL) has agreed a nine-year deal that will see the MP & Silva agency market its overseas broadcast rights from the 2014-15 season.

The international deal excludes the European Union territories and covers all of the SPL’s live televised matches each season. MP & Silva will be the exclusive distributor of the SPL live media rights across cable, satellite, terrestrial, betting, mobile and internet platforms, apart from those retained by club channels.

SPL chief executive Neil Doncaster said: “MP & Silva are one of the most highly respected sports rights agencies, who work with the FA Premier League, Bundesliga, Serie A and La Liga to exploit some of the most valuable rights in the sporting world.  We are delighted to have them as partners.”

Andrea Radrizzani, MP & Silva group CEO, added: “MP & Silva has been doing a great job in distributing European football content internationally.  Being appointed by the SPL is a worthy recognition of our leadership in the market and we are very excited to use our network of broadcasters to improve audiences of Scottish football outside Europe.”