Greece

The chief organiser of the 2004 Athens Olympics says it is a "gigantic task" and her team would be tested every day until the Games were over. For the full details see the FEATURES section of sportbusiness.com.

Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis has sacked a senior 2004 Athens Games organiser for publicly squabbling with a minister a day after the premier had called for restraint.

IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch and the vice-president and minister for foreign affairs of Greece, George Papandreou, will host a joint press conference on Wednesday in Sydney on the establishment of the International Olympic Truce Centre.

The Greek government has announced that the budget for the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens will come to $5 billion. Officials said the new 1.8 trillion drachmas budget was decided at a special cabinet meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Costas Simitis, and was approved by Finance Minister Yannos Papantoniou.

A member of the board responsible for organising the Sydney Olympics has slammed the group's lack of internal communication on Tuesday, saying members were often kept in the dark over key decisions.

Organisers of the Athens 2004 Olympic Games have rejected a proposal by International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Juan Antonio Samaranch to advance the date of the summer games to accommodate professional soccer.

Greece expects local sponsoring to raise $285 million for the 2004 Olympics in Athens, organisers have said.

Sukom Ninety Eight Berhad has appointed the DRB-Hicom Group as the official sponsor of cars and motorcycles for the 19th Commonwealth Games.

With no end in sight to the NBA lockout, overall No. 1 draft pick Michael Olowokandi might go to Europe to play professionally.

Action Sports International, a multi-dimensional company that manufactures, distributes and licenses Generation X and Y products have signed a distribution agreement with Trans National Sports one of the largest Eastern European distributors of sporting goods and apparel.

The organisers of the Athens 2004 Olympic Games have given the Greek national Olympic body, the Hellenic Olympic Committee $3million (?3.2m) to contribute towards the Olympic preparation of Greek athletes.

Greek football has been thrown into a state of confusion two matches before the end of the season, following an announcement from the league of professional clubs (EPAE) that the number of teams to be relegated could be halved from four to two.

Greece's state-run Soccer Pools and Lottery Organisation (OPAP) hopes to raise about 60 billion drachmas ($156.2 million) through a share sale to help fund the 2004 Athens Olympic Games.

Kirch managing director Dieter Hahn has blamed German public broadcaster ARD for the failure to agree terms on World Cup 2002 and 2006 broadcast rights.

Greece's finance ministry and the Athens 2004 Olympic Games Organising Committee (ATHOC) have signed a memorandum of cooperation and understanding designed to streamline procedures ahead of the Games.

Greece will build four press villages to accommodate journalists covering the Athens 2004 Olympics, organisers said on Tuesday.

Investor hopes for an Olympics dividend from companies likely to prosper from the 2004 Summer Games in Athens have so far come to nothing, hammered by a year-long slide on the local bourse. For the full story see the FEATURES section of sportbusiness.com.

Athens 2004 organisers have signed what they say is the biggest national sponsorship deal in the history of the Olympics.