MUMBAI: The South Asian Football Federation (Saff) has announced the renewal of its agreement with World Sport Group (WSG).

The deal will run through 2017. Sports marketing agency WSG has been the commercial partner of Saff since 1996.

The new agreement commences this year and covers four Saff Championships - 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2017 - the regional governing body?s flagship competition, which is held biennially. Together, SAFF and WSG have delivered six Saff Championships since the event was first launched in 1997.

SAFF president Kazi Salahuddin has been quoted in media reports saying that the partnership with WSG was key in its financial stability. He noted that the standard of competition among its member nations has been increasing.

IMG senior VP, football, Asean, Australia and South Asia Ian Mathie noted that in just over a decade and a half, football in South Asia had grown both on and off the field. The Saff Championship he added is widely watched and is growing in popularity across the region.

MUMBAI: In a bid to boost late night viewership, Star World has created a ?Laughs From The Past? slot at 11:30 pm that will showcase retro sitcoms. The English general entertainment channel is airing ?Home Improvement? Monday to Friday at 11.30 pm.

Star World will launch four new shows.The sixth season of ?Criminal Minds? will start from 3 October and will air Monday-Friday at 10 pm. That will be followed by a new show, ?Mellisa and Joey?, that kicks off on 6 October and will air Monday-Friday at 11 pm.

The series follows the life of Mel, a local politician and what
follows when she hires Joe, a commodity trader to be a nanny or rather "manny" to her niece and nephew!

For the weekend ?Necessary Roughness? launches on 8 October and airs every Saturday at 10 pm. Viewers can watch what happens to Dani, a tough Long Island divorcee?s life who, in order to make ends meet, gets a job as a therapist for a professional football team. Her career begins to take off when athletes, musicians, politicians and other celebrities start to request her tough love therapy.

New Delhi: Doordarshan has commenced the live telecast of the Federation Cup Football matches from today on DD Sports.

The first match to be telecast was the Air India Federation Club vs Prayag United FC from Kolkata from 3.30 pm today.

Two matches will be telecast live tomorrow: Kingfisher East Bengal vs Dempo SC from Kolkata at 3 pm and McDowell Mohan Bagan vs Churchill Brothers SC from Pune at 6.30 pm.

The two matches on 22 September will be Prayag United SC vs Sporting Clube De Goa from Kolkata at 3.30 pm and Pailan Arrows vs Salgaocar SC from Pune.

The two semi-finals will be telecast live from Kolkata at 5 pm on 25 and 26 September respectively, and the final will be telecast from Kolkata on 29 September.

MUMBAI: Football, the most popularised in the world, is gathering dirty money. Match fixing is a serious threat as criminal gangs are trying to control the sport by buying clubs and organising referee training camps, according to Fifa security chief.Chris Eaton.

Criminality, however, can be defeated and it is not an impossible situation. Eaton said this can be achieved through good due diligence, regulation and oversight.

Soccer‘s governing body wants to provide witness protection for players who confess when they are approached by match-fixers and would consider rehabilitation for those corrupted at a young age.

Eaton warned that buying clubs was a way for organised groups to control the results of matches. He noted that in countries that are not very economically well off, low-level clubs are being bought. There is also movement and trafficking of players taking place.