China

Bribery and match-fixing hamper the development of soccer in Southeast Asia, and a farcical game in the recent Tiger Cup championship has further tarnished the sport's image, coaches and officials said.

Olympic chief Juan Antonio Samaranch has gaven a clean bill of health to Chinese sport and said Beijing was now an example to the world of how to fight against drug cheats.

China demanded on Tuesday an overhaul of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the methods by which it selected Olympic host cities.

English Premier Leauge soccer club Manchester United is involved in talks with three potential Chinese partners with a view to setting up more club shops in the country.

US sports broadcaster ESPN is launching an Asian version of its flagship news show SportsCenter on its network in the region, ESPN Star Sports (ESS).

Beijing?s hotels were flooded with calls just minutes after the Chinese capital won their bid to host the 2008 Olympics.

China's hopes of staging the Olympics for the first time in 2008 face a severe test on Tuesday when the IOC publishes an evaluation report on the five candidates in the race for the Games. For more on this see FEATURES section of sportbusiness.com.

Canadian athletes should expect better funding from the government to ensure a good showing if Toronto hosts the 2008 Summer Olympic games, a former Canadian Olympian has said.

Even the most experienced Olympic observers cannot agree on which city will win the battle to stage the 2008 Summer Games as the deciding vote draws near.

Japan has no plans to launch a new investigation into allegations the central Japanese city of Nagano bribed International Olympic Committee (IOC) executives to host the 1998 Winter Games.

Telstra Corp Ltd, Australia's dominant telecommunications group, wants to capitalize on its success in wiring the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games by penetrating the world's biggest potential market, China.

VTV, recently-acquired by UK-based The Television Corporation and now part of Sunset+Vine, has won a new four year contract to produce and distribute coverage of English badminton until 2005.

EPSN Star Sports has appointed Mike Kerr to the newly created position of senior manager, integrated sales.

NBA fans in more than 750 million households around the world will be able to tune into the NBA Finals 2000 featuring the Los Angeles Lakers and the Indiana Pacers.

The 2000 NBA All-Star Game, taking place in the San Francisco Bay Area, February 11- 13, will be shown in 205 countries, with a potential audience of 750million households.

Heavyweight boxing’s postponed WBA title fight between Evander Holyfield and John Ruiz has been rescheduled for November in Beijing.