Europe

The team behind KOTV - the first international 30-minute weekly boxing highlights TV programme – says pre-sales have exceeded expectations as it prepares for the bell later this month.

The English Football Association is set to confirm later this week that it will drop title sponsorship of the FA Cup and adopt a new ‘family’ of sponsors.

IOC president Jacques Rogge has warned organisers of the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens not to be complacent in the preparation of the city.

Australian soccer star Harry Kewell has received a carefully worded apology from a promotor which has cleared the way for him to play for his country against France at the MCG on November 11.

Still reeling from the bankruptcy earlier this year of its marketing partner ISL, the ATP Tour has laid off 15 staff members and cut $7m (B

Ufa Sports is seeking a naming rights sponsor for Iceland’s elite soccer league after negotiating an extended and expanded marketing deal with the Icelandic Football Association (KIS).

US sports marketing firm, Envision Sports and Entertainment, is expanding into Europe, appointing former ISL chiefs Chris Renner and Mark Devenport in the process.

Sport Entertainment & Media, the UK-based company which represents Premier League soccer players, had the likes of Emmanuel Petit and Lennox Lewis for helping it triple profits this year.

Special Branch officers in the UK are working with the Greek government on a possible hijacking scenario to test anti-terrorist measures for the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens.

This season's secondary European club rugby competition has been launched with a new name, the European Shield rebranded as the Parker Pen Shield.

Clear Channel Entertainment, formerly SFX, a leading producer and marketer of live entertainment events, has acquired Planit Promotions, a promoter and producer of motocross races in the United Kingdom.

The Estoril Open golf tournament, scheduled for October 11-14, has been cancelled by its promoters, the European Tour said on Wednesday.

The UK government’s sports development organisation, Sport England, has appointed Roger Bottomley, chairman of a leading leisure group, as interim CEO.

The weekend TV ratings slump for the NFL continued with the viewing figures for the flagship Monday Night Football (MNF) show slipping on the previous year.

The National Basketball Development League (NBDL) is broadening the reach of its television coverage following a deal with Fox Sports Net South.

Greece has pledged to deliver key venues for the 2004 Olympics on time despite construction delays that have worried the IOC.

The vice-president of German soccer giants Bayern Munich, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, has described the UEFA Cup as a "mess" and called on the marketing of TV rights to be centralised.

The International Association of Athletics Federations has appointed Japanese advertising giant Dentsu to handle worldwide television and sponsorship sales for its World Athletics Series.