By Tom DegunFebruary 15 - A megastore on Copacabana Beach is to be set-up as part of a $750 million (

located in key cities of the country.A megastore is also planned to be built on the sands of Copacabana Beach

, one of the most iconic landmarks in Brazil and which is due to host the beach volleyball during the

By Duncan MackayJanuary 28 - There is unprecedented demand among Brazilians who want to see the Olympics in London this year as Rio de Janeiro prepares to host the Games in 2016.

 The most popular tickets for Brazilians at London 2012 are the volleyball at Earls Court and the

beach volleyball at Horse Guards Parade, representing 44 per cent of the total allocation sold.

 That is no surprise as volleyball is the second most popular sport in Brazil behind football and

sport, including five gold.Their women will go into London 2012 as the defending champions in indoor volleyball

 After volleyball, the most popular sport is basketball with eight per cent and, not surprisingly

By David GoldJanuary 28 - Pantene has launched a new campaign featuring 11-time Olympic medallist Natalie Coughlin, the first American female athlete to win six medals in a single Games.

 The others signed-up include Brazilian Jaqueline Carvalho, who won the beach volleyball gold

calamitously, losing some of its accredited status after being found to have falsely accused a Brazilian beach

volleyball player, Pedro Solberg, of testing positive for testosterone.Before entering the dazzling

By Mike RowbottomJanuary 19 - In a move that will be deeply embarrassing to Brazilian authorities as they look ahead to hosting the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 Olympics and Paralympics, the doping control laboratory in Rio de Janeiro which would be expected to play a major role in both events has had its accreditation partially withdrawn.

on samples, the element of its operation which caused it to falsely report last year that Brazilian beach

volleyball player Pedro Solberg (pictured) had tested positive for testosterone.The International Volleyball

At Beijing in 2008 the same song was played during the beach volleyball, leading to the BBC receiving

By David OwenElectricity, like ballet and ancient Greek, has always been a bit of a mystery to me.I had fondly imagined that if you wanted to stage a sports event in an unconventional location you simply shipped in the infrastructure, attached a standard 13-amp plug (you know, the brown wire is live; the blue one is neutral – the stuff even I know) and trained an extension lead to the nearest electrical socket.Apparently it is a bit more complicated than that.

Horse Guards Parade in central London this summer, one of the most insistent sounds emanating from the beach

volleyball Olympic test event was the hum of what I took to be electricity generators.It explains too

By David OwenElectricity, like ballet and ancient Greek, has always been a bit of a mystery to me.I had fondly imagined that if you wanted to stage a sports event in an unconventional location you simply shipped in the infrastructure, attached a standard 13-amp plug (you know, the brown wire is live; the blue one is neutral – the stuff even I know) and trained an extension lead to the nearest electrical socket.Apparently it is a bit more complicated than that.

Horse Guards Parade in central London this summer, one of the most insistent sounds emanating from the beach

volleyball Olympic test event was the hum of what I took to be electricity generators.It explains too

I was particularly impressed by the women's handball and beach volleyball teams which recorded fantastic

By Tom DegunDecember 18 - Ralph Lauren Corporation, an official outfitter of the United States Olympic team, have announced their roster of Olympic hopefuls who will serve as Ralph Lauren brand ambassadors for London 2012, with swimming icons Ryan Lochte and Rebecca Soni named on the list.

London 2012 Olympic Ralph Lauren brand ambassadors by wrestler Henry Cejudo, decathlete Bryan Clay, beach

volleyball players Jennifer Kessy and April Ross, rower Giuseppe Lanzone, footballer Heather Mitts and

By David GoldDecember 16 - Samsung has joined forces with the Nigerian Volleyball Federation (NVF) to

promote volleyball in the country.

NVF have recently organised a double gender beach volleyball tournament in the capital Abuja, which was

opportunity to identify talented sports men and women who could represent the country on the international volleyball

Gumel (pictured centre) spoke of his hope that the deal would help push the sport on: "The Nigerian Volleyball

Federation will not allow this kind gesture by Samsung in identifying with volleyball in the country

By Tom DegunNovember 25 - The chairman of the Gold Coast 2018 bid team Mark Stockwell (pictured), the man who led the Australian city to success in the race for the Commonwealth Games earlier this month, has expressed his delight that triathlon mixed relay will feature at the competition.

following recommendations from the CGF Sports Review Committee.Women's boxing, women's rugby sevens and beach

volleyball were also voted onto the Commonwealth Games sports programme and while they could appear

By David GoldNovember 23 - Australian gymnast Lauren Mitchell has joined 14 times Olympic swimming gold medallist Michael Phelps and Beijing 2008 shot put gold medal winner Valerie Adams as a Visa ambassador for the London 2012 Olympic Games.

join elite group of athletes sponsored by VisaMay 2011: Visa confirmed as title sponsor for FIVB Beach

Volleyball InternationalMay 2011: Lloyds TSB partner with Samsung and Visa to pioneer contactless

•         Denise Johns and Lucy Boulton, beach volleyball test

sports programme as optional sports while the other big winners were the triathlon mixed relay and beach

volleyball.