Europe

Former Olympic rower Anita DeFrantz gets prickly when people suggest she is an outsider in the race to replace Juan Antonio Samaranch as International Olympic Committee (IOC) president.

Shares in soccer club Manchester United lost 0.5p this morning as the club announced that it had smashed the British transfer record with the £23.5million ($33m) purchase of Juan Sebastian Veron from Lazio.

A compensation row has erupted between SMG, the minority owner in UK terrestrial television network ITV, and Granada and Carlton Communications, the majority owners of the channel.

Scotland’s bid to host golf’s Ryder Cup in 2009 for the first time in 36 years is being fronted by the sports marketing company Hill and Knowlton.

Pedro Cortes, president of Spanish soccer club Valencia, has resigned after pressure from main shareholder Francisco Roig.

LEAGUE’ Glasgow Celtic, the leading Scottish soccer club, plans to play in the English Premier League, its chairman Dermot Desmond said in an interview.

The United States Postal Service has signed a three-year contract extension to remain the title sponsor of the professional cycling team led by double Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong.

Dick Pound, the Canadian lawyer who has negotiated the marketing and television deals which have made billions for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in recent years, now wants the top job - the presidency.

Osaka Olympic bid organisers stressed the quality of the Japanese city's venues and a government pledge of unqualified financial backing in its final submission to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Friday.

Three days before he steps down after 21 years as IOC president, Juan Antonio Samaranch was made honorary life president of the organization.

Television company HBO has severed its ties with UK boxer Prince Naseem Hamed following a long-running row between the two parties.

Manchester United is in talks with International Greetings, the American company which makes greeting cards and stationary featuring images of, among others, Harry Potter and Winnie the Pooh.

John Taylor International (JTI) has joined forces with sports marketing expert John Collard to set up a new PR company called Sports Impact.

Bucking trends in the tough media environment, Sportsworld Media Group plc, the UK-based sports and entertainment marketing and media company, has reported a whopping 192 percent rise in pre-tax profits in its year-end results to June 30.

Colombian Edwin Congo has taken his case against European soccer giants Real Madrid to the Spanish league, La Liga Profesional de Futbol (LPF).

The Spanish Golf Federation is close to reaching 200,000 registered golfers.