China

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.

China will take tough action against athletes who test positive for performance enhancing drugs as part of efforts to intensify a crackdown on doping, the official Xinhua news agency said on Tueaday.

New York's international network, many hotels and plans to build new sports arenas amounted to a strong bid to stage the 2012 Summer Olympic Games, a United States Olympic Committee (USOC) panel said.

The emperor of Japan, premier of China and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il will be in the stands when next year's World Cup finals kick off, if South Korea's soccer boss has his wish.

Olympic boss Juan Antonio Samaranch said on Tuesday he did not support Kim Un-yong's plan to allow IOC members to visit cities bidding for the Games if the South Korean is elected IOC president in July.

Support in China for its bid for the 2008 Olympic Games is overwhelming among its people, according to a poll.

The five cities bidding to host the 2008 Summer Olympics have all submitted their official candidature files ahead of the deadline, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said on Wednesday.

Paris will stage the best Olympics ever if it wins the right to hold them in 2008, the bid organisers said in an official statement.

FIFA have declared that the 2003 Women's World Cup will be held in China.

China has declared that the dramatic axing of 27 athletes from its Olympic squad amid suspicions of doping has produced a leaner but meaner team that should hold its own at the Sydney Games.

Sportasia.com, the Asian internet sports content producer, syndicator and distributor, has appointed Ikuya Tanaka of Dentsu?s Sports Marketing Division as a board director.

Legislators are poised to approve next week a total loss to taxpayers of $945 million for hosting the 2006 Asian Games in Hong Kong along with an event for disabled athletes.

An IOC report says preliminary results indicate that the XVIII Olympic Winter Games in Nagano, Japan, were broadcast in more countries than ever before and that the global cumulative audience is likely to equal Lillehammer's record??.

China's soccer champions are seeking a new corporate sponsor because Dalian Wanda Group Co plans to withdraw support before the end of 1998, officials said on Wednesday.

Chinese sports officials have waded into the Olympic bribery row, saying Beijing may have been a victim of IOC corruption when it lost to Sydney in the contest to host the 2000 Games.

Pepsi has won soccer?s Far Eastern cola wars - beating arch-rival Coca-Cola in the race to sponsor China?s football league for the next five years.