Greece

Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis has sacked Costas Bakouris, managing director of the 2004 Athens Olympics Organising Committee, government spokesman Dimitris Reppas said.

Sports-loving mayor Yuri Luzhkov has said he wants Moscow to stage the 2012 Olympics.

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.

The British Olympic Association has ruled that British swimmers may wear any make of bodysuit at the Sydney Olympics.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has announced the renewal of McDonalds?s sponsorship of the Olympics until 2004 and that other companies would pledge cash and services in the next few weeks.

German sports marketing company, Global Sportnet, has extended its rights portfolio by signing a marketing contract with the most successful club in Greek football.

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

Greece has said that Cypriot film director Michael Cacoyannis, of "Zorba the Greek" fame, will head the Cultural Olympics that will accompany the 2004 Athens Games.

Greece's government plans to pass a new law next month aimed at speeding up preparations for the 2004 Olympic Games.

Brazil's President Fernando Henrique Cardoso has thrown his support behind a bid from Rio de Janeiro to host the Olympics and the Pan-American games.

Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis has urged his ministers to speed up work and catch up with preparations for the 2004 Athens Olympics following last month's serious warning from the IOC.

The 2000 Cuervo Wakeboard Pro Tour, which is taking place this summer in five venues across Europe, has secured a series of five TV programmes in the Meridian, Anglia and HTV regions.

The IOC has said it has given Greece 100 days to get preparations for the 2004 Olympics back on track.

Olympic officials have expressed relief over the appointment of Yianna Angelopoulos as chief organiser of the Athens 2004 Olympics, saying they now expected fewer delays and harder work from Greece.

Greece has sacked the president of its organising committee for the 2004 Olympics after the IOC warned that drastic changes were needed, and replaced him with Yianna Angelopoulos, the woman who won Greece the Games.

The Greek government?s Culture Minister Theodoros Pangalos, whose ministry oversees Olympic preparations, has admitted that the organizers of the 2004 Games have fallen behind schedule.

IOC President Juan Samaranch has warned that the Summer Games 2004 could be taken away form Athens if the organisation does not improve considerably by the end of the year.

Enic, the UK-based sports, media and leisure group with controlling interests in European club?s Slavia Prague and Vicenza as well as minority stakes in Glasgow Rangers, FC Basel and AEK Athens, has reported greatly increased half-year profits. The company made substantial gains on player trading, and the sale of part of its holdings in AEK and Autonomy, the new media company.