Baltics

German commercial broadcaster RTL has signed a deal with Infront, giving it live rights to up to eight matches of the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

FIFA’s TV partner Infront Sports & Media has reached an exclusive agreement with Australian network SBS for the broadcast rights for the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany.

Infront has signed a hat-trick of FIFA World Cup 2006 TV deals.

European basketball governing body FIBA Europe says four nations have approached it with a view to hosting the 2007 European Championship for Men.

A major marketing workshop to enhance ticket sales for European basketball’s Euroleague concludes today – with participating teams saying the effort is paying off.

The NBA's growing international presence has again been proven after the league signed a raft of TV rights deals across the globe.

The European Pro Beach Soccer League (EPBSL) is set to expand in 2004 after organisers agreed to take on more clubs.

Pan-regional broadcaster Viasat Sport has renewed its TV rights deal for coverage of the US PGA Tour.

KirchSport has negotiated a renewal deal with pan-Scandinavian broadcaster the Modern Times Group (MTG) for the television rights to the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) World Championship.

Russia's skiing federation (RSF) has been forced to cancel two World Cup cross country skiing races because of lack of funds, a senior federation official has said.

Les McDonald, president of the International Triathlon Union (ITU), the world governing body of the Olympic sport, has been forced into a court case in Vancouver, British Columbia, over allegations that recent elections to his organisation were fixed, with some national federations being denied their right to vote.

Celta Vigo's Russian international Valery Karpin is hoping to finish the season with the status of a European Union national after taking his case to a Madrid court this week.

The Lithuanian soccer federation has named Liutauras Varanavicius, chief executive officer of Ukio Bank, to replace acting president Vytautas Zimnickas.

Scottish Premier League soccer clubs Rangers and Celtic have signed a deal to broadcast games in Europe on pay-per-view television in the UK.

European basketball is set to be split into two opposing camps in Thessaloniki today when newcomers ULEB will challenge the sport's governing body FIBA by announcing its own rival to the recently launched Suproleague.

UK press reports suggest that European basketball faces the threat of a breakaway by leading clubs.