France
Business

Thirty members of the European Parliament have taken the French organisers of the soccer World Cup to court to force them to redistribute hundreds of thousands of tickets abroad.

A crippling pilots strike kept most Air France flights grounded for a second day on Tuesday but negotiations were set to resume in the afternoon, raising hopes the dispute could be settled before the start of the World Cup.
Business

The Spanish football club Real Madrid, which won the European Champions Cup last month for the first time in 32 years, has bought back part of the Canal Plus empire in Spain for Pta12bn ($80m) from Gesport.

Hundreds of youths went on the rampage at a detention centre in northeast Thailand in the early hours of Wednesday after officials prevented them from watching a World Cup soccer match on television, police said.

Franz Beckenbauer has hammered the standard of soccer at the World Cup finals and predicted the European club game would one day replace international football.
Events

Independent French outdoor advertising firm Dauphin saw an exceptional level of turnover in June thanks to the World Cup, according to the firm's commercial director .
Business

Tour de France team sponsors are divided about whether their brands would suffer from the doping scandal at the world's top cycling race.
Business

Olympic plans for a new worldwide drug testing agency take the battle against doping forwards but are unlikely to stop some athletes from using banned substances.

English rugby officials have turned down a proposal to change the cycle of British Lions tours from four to six years.

Events

Athletics chiefs have revamped their fixture list for next season in a bid to make Wednesday nights a focal point for top-class track and field.
Events

The Organising Committee for the Olympic Football Tournaments, Sydney 2000, has reaffirmed their ruling on age limits, and announced that the Men's Olympic final will be played in Sydney's new Olympic Stadium.
Business

World champions France will not take part in FIFA's controversial Confederations Cup in Mexico next year if the dates are unsuitable.

Business

Communist-ruled Vietnam has approved Hanoi's first horse racing track.

"Morocco is officially a candidate for the World Cup finals in 2006," Youth and Sports Minister Ahmed Moussaoui stated yesterday.
Business

Organisers of cycling showpiece the Tour de France, eager to restore the race's image after last year's major doping scandal, have decided to bar all riders and teams currently involved in doping cases.
Business

Pangolin, the independent sports media company,has bought the the popular Scandinavian multi-sport siteSportNow (www.SportNow.se).
Media

Multi-media company 365 Corporation has reported pre-tax first quarter losses of #7million ($10.2/?11.2m), but has slashed operating costs from #5.8m ($8.4/?9.3m) to #3.8m ($5.5m/?6m) in its bid for profitability.
Media

Televising English Premiership soccer highlights on terrestrial television from 7pm GMT on a Saturday will bring a ?once in a lifetime change to the shape of Saturday TV,? ITV?s director David Liddiment said at a news conference today.