Germany

Germany's EM.TV & Merchandising said on Monday that privately owned media giant Kirch Group had agreed to acquire a minority stake in the group and take over 49 percent of the company's shares in Formula One holding company SLEC.

Sportal and Ford of Europe have signed a deal to make Ford a key sponsor of the Sportal Network.

FIFA will decide upon a definitive World Cp rotation process in November, according to Danny Jordaan the man behind South Africa?s unsuccessful bid to stage the 2006 tournament.

Thousands of Australians and foreigners, setting aside cynicism about corrupt officials, doped athletes and bungled busing, poured into central Sydney on Thursday to glimpse the torch that heralds the opening of the biggest Olympic Games.

Global Sportnet, the Hamburg-based sports marketing agency, and Rayo Valleceno, the Spanish side with a place in this season?s UEFA Cup have closed a deal that covers the worldwide and exclusive marketing of the club?s television and advertising rights to European matches.

The South African Football Association (SAFA) has asked FIFA to set up an arbitration process aimed at challenging Germany's successful bid for the 2006 World Cup.

Controversial FIFA executive committee member Charles Dempsey ? the man who abstained in the final round of voting for the host of the 2006 World Cup ? has quit as head of the Oceania Football Confederation today.

Oceania's FIFA representative, who created an international storm after he abstained from a close vote that gave the 2006 World Cup to Germany, has said he would retire at the end of September.

Chief of the England 2006 World Cup has said the $15m campaign was money well spent ? despite the fact the bid now seems destined to fail.

The Extreme Group and United Pan-Europe Communications (UPC), the joint venture partners in the Extreme Sports Channel, have signed a distribution agreement with Germany's third-largest independent cable network operator PrimaCom AG.

Germany's top television channel, RTL has bought the coveted free-to-air rights to Champions League soccer from September for the next three seasons.

UK press reports suggest that European basketball faces the threat of a breakaway by leading clubs.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter has said the 2006 Word Cup finals should go to Africa if one of the continent's two bidding countries can meet all the conditions required to stage the event.

On the day that News Corps and Vivendi have proposed a joint shareholding of their digital businesses, European media big-hitters Bertelsmann, Groupe Bruxelles Lambert and Pearson (PTV) have agreed to merge CLT-UFA, Europe's leading commercial television and radio broadcaster, with Pearson Television, the independent television production company.

Most players in this year's Euro 2000 tournament will have to pay 18 percent of their earnings in tax, tournament officials have announced.

South African Sports Minister Ngconde Balfour has said his country would "comfortably earn" the right to stage the 2006 World Cup finals.