Spurs close in on £12m sponsorship deal with AIA... that's £8m less than Levy wanted



Tottenham are believed to have agreed a new shirt deal for all competitions with Hong Kong-based insurance giants AIA worth around £12million a year starting next season.

AIA have had their names on the front of the Spurs kit for Cup competitions, with Hewlett Packard sponsoring the shirts for Premier League matches.

The deal, which is far less than the £20m a year Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy had wanted, is understood to have been brought in by Levy himself. That is likely to see some hard fee negotiations with Essentially, the agency hired by Spurs to attract new sponsors after Levy disbanded the commercial department.



New deal: AIA are believed to have sealed a deal to become Spurs' permanent sponsors

The FA have been accused of holding English women’s club football to ransom in order to secure votes for the introduction of two super leagues that start in March.

Upset clubs, who fear the concentration of funding at the new women’s elite levels will force them out of business, claim the FA manoeuvres were ‘unethical’ and want an inquiry into ‘unconstitutional conduct’.

The FA have taken eight clubs out of the Women’s Premier League to form a second division behind the current 10-strong Super League, and have mandated that the remaining WPL clubs merge with the lower-tier Combination leagues from next season.

Let's hear it for the girls: But the FA are under fire for their super leagues, with Chelsea on a pre-season tour

Ron Moore, from Lewes Ladies, a campaign leader to save the WPL, said: ‘We have been coerced into going along with the FA’s wishes in a most unethical and unconstitutional way. They implied they would withdraw funding and admin support if they were opposed. And clubs wanting to be in the super league effectively had a gun held to their heads. They were given the impression their bids would be looked upon unfavourably if they voted against the FA resolution.

‘We have repeatedly asked for an inquiry into the whole affair to no avail. WPL clubs will cease to exist with the cuts in funding.’

An FA spokesman said: ‘We have a mandate to make the changes. We need to centralise funding to build an elite pathway that will allow young women footballers to have a fully professional career in future.’



Former Manchester United chief executive David Gill and £2million-a-year club ambassador Sir Alex Ferguson sit on the football club board but play no part in aiding their successors Ed Woodward and David Moyes in the transfer window. A United spokesman described the board position that qualifies Gill for his Premier League, FA and UEFA powerbroking roles as ‘ceremonial’.

Looming shadow: But Sir Alex Ferguson has no part in transfers, Manchester United insist

The internal review being conducted by new England cricket managing director Paul Downton into the Ashes surrender — including interviews with all players and backroom staff — is not expected to result in a written report. The ECB are well aware of the turmoil caused by leaks of incendiary findings after the 2011 Rugby World Cup and do not want a repeat.

Minister for Sport Helen Grant, who failed to answer simple sports questions when ambushed by Meridian TV, is going to the Winter Olympics. But the private secretary going with her should ensure she is not asked to name Britain’s three main medal prospects.

In charge: Helen Grant is off to Sochi, but was left red-faced after failing to answer sports questions last year

Draper’s drop shot

Roger Draper's legacy to the Lawn Tennis Association looks to be another big cut in funding from Sport England as a result of sliding tennis participation figures.

The LTA, who paid former CEO Draper a ludicrous £640,000-a-year package, had their Sport England money slashed a year ago for having no credible plan to boost playing numbers. And Sport England’s active people survey, measuring people playing sport for at least 30 minutes a week, showed a damning nine per cent drop in tennis numbers over the past year.

The funding, which might be distributed in a different way in future than through the underperforming LTA, will remain on a one-year basis, as it will for all the other sports under review by Sport England this week. These are swimming, fencing, table tennis, squash and basketball.