Italy

Swatch Group has signed a long-term partnership agreement with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in areas of timing, scoring and results-keeping.

AS Roma will bid for a stake in Rome's Olympic Stadium with Lazio, the club's general manager said in an interview.

Hamburg-based sports marketing agency Global Sportnet has signed a five-year contract with Italian Serie A soccer club Juventus FC.

Brazilian soccer legend Pele has compared the international transfer of young players to the slave trade.

Media Partners, the Italian firm previously behind proposals for a breakaway European soccer superleague, has signed a web development deal for Italy?s mens? and womens? volleyball web sites.

The exclusive television rights to show Napoli's football matches will pass from pay-TV platform Telepiu to its rival Stream.

The World Cup short-course swimming series has been cut from 12 meetings to 10 and will offer more prize money.

Sports.com has been chosen as the exclusively designated Official Sports Partner of Wimbledon.org for the All England Tennis Club.

The flotation of Italian first division soccer club AS Roma has been postponed to the second half of May, the club's director-general said.

InterClubNet Ltd, the communication system provider, has unveiled InterClub, a private and secure communication and information system for football clubs and officially recognised bodies. The system, which is due to launch at the end of May, allows clubs to exchange player transfer information online, as well as providing a forum for other club business such as arranging friendly matches and merchandising agreements.

Bernie Ecclestone has agreed to sell half his Formula One empire to Deutsche Bank's Morgan Grenfell Private Equity in a $1.3 billion deal which puts the company's flotation back on track.

Sportal, the independent Internet-based sports media company has announced the completion of a $50 million equity financing valuing the company at over $170 million.

Shares in Lazio, the Rome football club, were oversubscribed more than six times in their public offering this week.

Soccer's World Cup continues to pull major TV audiences, even in countries whose national teams are not involved in a particular match.

Lazio shares were sharply higher on a sagging bourse on Monday after the Italian football team's 2-1 Supercup victory over Juventus at the weekend.

The release of players for the Confederations' Cup has topped discussions at the recent FIFA executive committee meetings, pushing the threat of a European super league and doping concerns onto the back burner.