PHILIPRISING

DENMARK have now joined Sweden in pulling out of the proposed Champions League for 2013 which just leaves Great Britain. Nothing wrong with the basic concept but until all the practicalities are resolved it will remain a pipe dream in my opinion.

I AM hearing rumours that Swedish clubs will not take part in the proposed Champions League, which will just leave Britain and Denmark.

OLE was obviously a Daily Mirror reader while in England. Andy Capp ... the memories

AT the end of the day Rob has the final say as far as the motorsport division is concerned but TV negotiations are primarily handled by IMG Media in consultation with Paul Bellamy, Managing Director of BSI Speedway, a wholly owned IMG company. I think we are close to an announcement about where, when and how the SGP series is shown on TV in the UK but (Pirates of Poole) I don't think it will be the combination that you describe. Could be wrong ... it has happened before. Although as Ole Olsen likes to say ... my first rule of life is that I am always right. My second is that even when I am wrong I am right. PS to the anti-Ole brigade: he was joking ... I think!

WOULDN'T put money on that

BUT, and this is a personal view, would BSI/IMG want to provide that facility after being dumped by Sky?

I TAKE your point and agree but Tom Maynard was, according to his inquest, taking cocaine every day along with ecstasy and was nearly four-times over the drink drive limit on the night of his death.

AGAIN, they worked for BSI as it was then.

IN fairness to Neil Middleditch there is a far more measured response to Ward's antic's in this week's Speedway Star (yes, I know it is a plug)...

IF you think at my age I can remember everything printed in the Star you are sadly mistaken. And I am far away from the office so cannot check the files.

BSI provide the coverage of ALL GPs... they use various production companies across Europe in conjunction with the 'host' broadcaster but generally either one from Poland or Denmark. All of which operate under the overall control of BSI and their appointed TV Director Steve Saint, whose company (Artifexmedia) produce the highlights package. Also see flagrag's informed answer above.

CORRECT me if I am wrong but Darcy Ward was not charged with or accused of rape and to suggest otherwise could leave you open to some legal response. He was (I think) charged with serious sexual assault which quite obviously is serious enough but not quite the same thing.

CANNOT say more right now. Contracts not yet signed and all that but although the Sky door is now bolted, at least for the forseeable future, plan b is taking shape.

I HAVE progressed from optimistic to mildly confident that the 2013 SGP series will be available to UK TV viewers...

BREATH of fresh air. Good move and glad to see that Tony Steele still has a seat at the top table. Could make a good team.

YOU may have sponsored a GP but I doubt whether you picked up all the bills. Not one of your better posts Andy...

LIKE it or not, the locals (those most likely to pay to get in) see Bunyan as their champion and love him even he is likely to trail round at the back. Given the Kiwis attitude to their antipodean cousins across the water, how many people would Batchelor pull in? Commercial... of course. It was Buckley's decision and as the man signing the cheques then I guess his opinion carries most weight.

I BELIEVE that he is en route to the UK ...

MY understanding is that Ward has his new passport and UK visa and is on his way back here to get his SGP equipment ready for transportation to New Zealand from Amsterdam on March 6.

RANDOM drug tests are carried out periodically at SGP events. No one, other than the Jury President at the event, knows that the tests will take place. Three riders at each SGP are randomly chosen by the Jury to be tested for alcohol immediately after the Saturday riders' briefing.

I AM not sure what you mean by investigate. Personally, I think Neil was very silly and wrong to say what he did. He will have to live with that. Whether or not it affects his role as British team manager remains to be seen. I would much rather concentrate on what Matt Ford said but how he deals with someone who probably spends more time out of the UK than in it is the big question. Anyone who has been to Poland and Torun in particular knows how young speedway riders are feted and idolised with temptation in various guises around every corner. As I say, at the end of the day the only person who can resolve this is Darcy himself. But that isn't easy. I was a soccer scribe during the days when Gorge Best was at his peak. I saw him help win the European Cup for Manchester United at Wembley in 1968. But then I also saw him as a desolate and lonely figure sitting in a Surbiton pub, just a few hundred yards from our office, in his latter days. It was so, so sad.

WE can talk all day long about bans and punishment but if Ward is to save his career, and that appears to be a big if at present, as Matt Ford says he needs professional help. First and foremost, however, he needs to admit he has a major problem, especially with drink. Until Darcy faces that head on all the rest is immaterial. It is unlikely he has ever heard of Paul Gascoigne but making him aware of how other top sportsman have seen their careers shredded and ruined and then their lives destroyed might provide the wake-up call he so desperately needs. At his age kids think they are indestructible. There were other occasions last year when his behaviour, fuelled by alcohol, could have sent him over the edge. A ban might be applicable but it wont solve the problem. Can you imagine what he would do with all that spare time. Matt Ford has got it right but, as the old saying goes, you can lead a horse to water but you cannot make it drink.

AT the risk of repeating myself ad infinitum, Sky do not provide coverage of the GPs other than Cardiff. I believe their weekly production costs for Elite League matches are in the region of £40,000 so would hazard a guess that they spent more money on domestic speedway than the GPs. Perhaps flagrag could confirm?

SKY are only involved in the production side at Cardiff otherwise they (like all other broadcasters) just take the pictures fed to their Isleworth studio. TV production is under the control of BSI/IMG themselves who appoint a host broadcaster to provide the local facilities.

THE tracks will be listed in alphabetical order ... thanks for your input