Finland

English soccer club Leeds United has joined forces with two of Scandinavia?s largest retail distributors in a bid to increase brand awareness and maximise marketing opportunities worldwide.

NHL International, in conjunction with ESPN International, will distribute the 2000 NHL

Italy's Prime Minister Massimo D'Alema met Fiat honorary chairman Giovanni Agnelli and other members of a Turin-based group on Monday to discuss the city's bid to host the 2006 winter Olympic Games.

Greece rejected claims by soccer's world governing body FIFA that the government was meddling in Greek soccer, risking a ban from international competition.

Manchester United?s club television channel ? MUTV ? has been launched in Scandinavia, giving fans in Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Finland the ability to subscribe to the digital broadcast.

Margot Jackson, an Australian who won the 100 and 200 metres sprint double at the 1952 Helsinki Games, has been appointed to the board of the Sydney 2000 Olympic organising committee.

Old Trafford will host England's World Cup qualifier with Greece on October 6, the Football Association announced on Friday.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter has said he is confident of getting the Bosman Rule changed, possibly by the end of this year.

A joint four nation Nordic bid to host the European Championship finals of 2008 is to be considered, a spokesman for the Danish soccer federation has said.

Austrian and Swiss soccer officials will meet in Bern on March 9 to discuss a possible joint bid to host the 2008 European Championships, officials said on Tuesday.

Former world heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson will fight in Helsinki in August against an unnamed opponent.

The Salt Lake City bid scandal has claimed a second International Olympic Committee (IOC) victim when Bashir Mohamed Attarabulsi of Libya resigned as a member today.

Finland's government should invest at least 43.3 million markka ($6.91 million) on stadium improvements to boost the joint Nordic bid for Euro 2008, a working group has proposed.

UEFA and FIFA face almost certain disappointment in their efforts to persuade the European Union to reverse some of the most damaging effects of the Bosman ruling, EU officials have warned.

Sydney and Salt Lake City Olympic officials have sought to reassure potential sponsors and spectators that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) was dealing effectively with the biggest scandal in its 104-year history.

Pay-per-view television company U>direct, which earlier this year covered England?s World Cup qualifying match away against Finland, is understood to be bidding for the re-structured pay-per-view rights to England?s Premier League.