Europe

Women's participation in football in England and the rest of Europe still lags behind the US, but it is growing significantly and is expected to become professional from 2003.

Shares in a number of lower league English soccer clubs have slumped in the wake of ITV Digital's decision to call in the administrators.

The Australian Rugby Union (ARU) has finalised its plans to host all 48 matches of next year's Rugby World Cup.

Nasdaq-listed virtual imaging company Princeton Video Image has closed its acquisition of the assets of the Israel-based SciDel Technologies.

UK terrestrial platform ITV Digital has gone into administration today - almost certainly signalling the end of its ITV Sport Channel.

Victory in Moscow's bid to host the 2005 World Athletics Championship will result in a $30million (EUR34.38m) spend - according to sport chiefs in the Russian capital.

A leading sports agent has told sportbusiness.com that the negotiations between Manchester United and David Beckham over image rights are "cosmetic" and will not affect the majority of the England captain's commercial rights.

Chelsea Village PLC, owners of the English Premier League soccer club, has reported a turnover increase of 17 percent to £57.2million ($81.5m/EUR93.1m) in its interim results to December 31, 2001.

The Rugby Football Union (RFU) will have to fork out an estimated £1m ($1.4m/EUR1.6m) after it lost its legal case against two former England captains Fran Cotton and Steve Smith.

Sports content provider Sports.com is to replace Sportal as the content distributor for the official website of Italian Serie A soccer club Juventus.

Building society Nationwide has renewed its sponsorship with the English Football Association - signing up to become the latest member of the FA's elite new partner programme.

Sportswear firm Puma has confirmed it will be the official sports apparel supplier of Team England at the 2002 Commonwealth Games.

The final decision on whether the rebuilding of Wembley Stadium can take place is likely to be delayed again because it would clash with local elections taking place in England and Wales.

Ireland's capital Dublin is set to join ice hockey's Superleague in three years time.

English Premier League champions Manchester United have chalked up a 79 percent rise in pre-tax profits for the six months to 31 January according to the club's latest set of financial results.

Australian Rugby Union (ARU) managing director John O'Neill has flown back to Britain for another meeting with World Cup officials to further discuss the ongoing issue of joint hosting the event with New Zealand.