Asia

FIBA, the international governing body for basketball, has created a pre-Olympic competition, the FIBA Diamond Ball, which will take place every four years to promote basketball globally.

The National Hockey League is unlikely to support efforts by the International Olympic Committee to develop a uniform drugs policy for North American professional sports, the head of the NHL players' association has said.

Australia's greatest ever Olympian, swimmer Dawn Fraser, has warned the International Olympic Committee (IOC) of a possible athletes' protest at next year's Sydney Olympics if the organisation refused to reform itself properly.

Rapid Bucharest may be banned from international competition by FIFA for using an unauthorised agent to set up a player's transfer abroad, a Romanian official has said.

World athletics chief Primo Nebiolo has assured British Sports Minister Tony Banks that London would have a good chance of staging the 2003 world championships if proposed renovations to Wembley Stadium are completed.

The Sri Lankan cricket board has signed a $7.75 million deal with India's Sony Entertainment Television that gives the company rights to telecast all matches played on the Indian Ocean island.

India have withdrawn from a three-match, one-day cricket series against world champions Australia scheduled for September, the Australian Cricket Board (ACB) said on Thursday.

Indian cricket chiefs have until today to provide assurances that they can host this year's ICC Cup.

Saturday?s Calcutta Cup rugby union clash between England and Scotland will definitely go ahead despite earlier fears it could be cancelled because of the foot-and-mouth outbreak.

India's former captain Kapil Dev has appeared before the national cricket board's match-fixing investigator and made some changes to statements he had given earlier to a federal agency, the inquiry official said.

India's national soccer federation has called an emergency general meeting after a breakaway association was formed at the weekend, challenging its authority.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has asked the country's president to order a judicial investigation into allegations of Pakistani involvement in match-fixing during last year's World Cup.

South African cricketers Herschelle Gibbs and Henry Williams have pleaded to accepting an offer of cash to under-perform in a one-day international match in India.

Iran's soccer federation is weighing an invitation to play friendly matches in the United States, a federation official has said.

India's federal cabinet has approved the staging of the 2006 Asian Games in New Delhi if the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) bid is successful.

Australia plans to host an international drugs-in-sport convention in Sydney this year to push for a tougher stance on drugs after the International Olympic Committee failed to approve uniform doping bans.