Australia

The Salt Lake City bribery scandal is likely to haunt the next president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in his first year in charge, according to prospective candidate Jacques Rogge.

Eight countries - including France, Spain and Britain - are forming a breakaway European governing body for triathlon, the sport which made its Olympic debut at the Sydney Games.

The vice-president of the Spanish Paralympic Committee (CPE) has resigned after allegations that Spain's Olympic delegation included athletes with no handicaps to boost the country's medal tally in Sydney.

The eight quarter-finalists from the 1999 World Cup will be granted automatic qualification for the 2003 tournament in Australia and New Zealand, the International Rugby Board said on Friday.

Melbourne, which already boasts the leading facilities in Australia for tennis and Formula One racing, may soon become the home of a new world-class ice skating facility.

Organisers of the Rugby League World Cup are hoping for an upturn in the event?s fortunes after dire weather and disruptions to UK train services caused chaos over the first weekend of matches.

South African golfer Ernie Els has signed an investment and 10-year exclusive partnership deal with EighteenGlobal, the international golf company.

Eurosport, the leading pan-European sports channel, has smashed a series of Olympic records following their continuous coverage of the Sydney Games.

Russian Olympic officials have warned that a shake-up is urgently needed if the country is to keep pace with other leading nations.

United States swimming double gold medallist Megan Quann has signed a representation contract with Octagon to handle her professional swimming career.

The FIM Speedway Grand Prix Series will move out of Europe for the first time next year after a deal was signed to take the event to Australia.

Strong interest in the Olympics is driving up the audience of New Zealand websites, according to research company AC Nielsen.

Ticket touts have flown into Sydney from around the world but their hopes of making a fast buck from the Olympics have been dashed.

ESPN The Magazine has rated NBCOlympics.com as its number one Olympic Web site.

The chairman of the British Olympic Association (BOA) has welcomed attempts to stamp out drugs in sport and said the British team had nothing to hide.

The International Olympic Committee have chosen two companies to support its ban of almost all video of sporting events at the Sydney Games from appearing on the internet - backing the wishes of the majority of its broadcasting customers.

Huge time-zone differences and an explosion in computer use will make Sydney's Olympics the biggest event yet on the Internet with officials predicting a staggering 6.5 billion hits for the official Games site alone.

The Japanese Football Association (JFA) has invited FIFA president Sepp Blatter to Tokyo to discuss next year's Confederations Cup following an apology from world soccer's governing body over its proposal for the tournament.