Italy

Minardi chairman Gabriele Rumi says he has sold his 70 percent stake in the Italian Formula One team to the Pan American Sports Network International (PSN) cable and satellite company.

A new web site hosting the official web sites for a string of top sports men and women has been launched.

Italian publisher and internet portal operator Seat Pagine Gialle has bought 50.1 percent of ticket agency TicketOne, a company that sells tickets for sports and cultural events by phone, internet and 350 retail outlets.

Italian broadcaster Mediaset and digital TV platform Stream have signed a preliminary accord for the exclusive pay television rights for the 2000-2001 European Champions League soccer games.

Pope John Paul has told Europe's soccer authorities to protect sporting ideals and make sure that the game was not just about cash.

Purple Interactive, the company behind the unofficial formuala1.com web-site, is to a launch Eurosoccer.com, a major new site for fans of European soccer.

Demands by leading European soccer clubs that their games should take priority over international friendlies are completely unacceptable, UEFA General Secretary Gerhard Aigner has said.

ESPN International has developed a new computer-based ranking system for the world?s leading soccer clubs.

Media Partners, the company behind the failed bid to launch a European Super League, says it is ready to launch another attempt to set up a privately-run elite soccer competition.

BSkyB has acquired a 5.4 per cent stake in Sportal?with an agreement to increase its total stake over time to 12.5 per cent.

A Czech company has sent 2,000 condoms, each tipped with a soccer ball and the flag of a participating nation, to the World Cup tournament in France.

Poland's government has approved a bid by Zakopane to host the Winter Olympics in 2006.

French pay television company Canal Plus is in talks with four more Italian football clubs following its recent broadcasting rights accord with the country's four main teams, a company official has said.

Twelve of Europe's top clubs have asked UEFA for closer co-operation in the organisation of the European Champions' League and insisted on having more input in financial matters.

The volleyball world championship's fashion police have struck, fining seven teams $3,000 each for ignoring its new dress code.

England, already facing sanctions from rugby union's governing body in a club versus country row, have been told to stop disrupting the Five Nations championship.