Italy

The spirit of co-operation between Europe's leading soccer clubs and UEFA was tested on Tuesday when they began discussing the financial aspects of an expanded Champions' League.

Pay-TV broadcaster Telepiu says it is confident contracts it signed for the digital rights for seven top Italian soccer clubs are unbreakable even if Rupert Murdoch makes a rival offer.

Leading Italian Serie A club Lazio, which was quoted on the Milan bourse last year, is set to pay a divided, according to its owner.

Hyper-inflation has returned to the European soccer transfer market when Internazionale of Milan announced it had signed star striker Christian Vieri from Lazio of Rome in a world record deal worth L80bn ($43m).

International television rights company CSI Ltd has recently acquired the exclusive television rights for home matches of the English football clubs in the UEFA Cup and the European Pro Beach Soccer League.

South Africa's Premier League kicks off its new season on Wednesday against a backdrop of legal wrangles, feuding club bosses and growing public apathy.

Fourteen of the biggest soccer clubs in Europe are meeting in Milan today and are likely to welcome up to 10 more clubs into their 'economic interest group', the G14. Sportbusiness.com?s soccer correspondent Simon Banks will be at the meeting, bringing you up-to-date with all the latest developments. See the FEATURES section of sportbusiness.com for a full report on the history of the G14.

A study by the Sports Consulting Group of Andersen, SCORE, has found that England is ?Europe?s football related tax paradise? and that France has the most problems in attracting well-known international players.

An alternative Formula One series backed by major carmakers is unlikely to happen, world motor sport chief Max Mosley was quoted as saying on Friday.

Dynamo Tbilisi, the former top Soviet side now mired in debt and facing possible extinction, has been put in the hands of Georgia's Interior Ministry.

Exxus, the sports business to business information provider, has won the contract to supply the English PFA (Professional Footballers Association) statistics on players, matches and teams for its 'Give Me

Soccer's world governing body FIFA said on Sunday it was open to the idea of sponsors names on national team shirts but insisted they would not be allowed at the 2002 World Cup. FIFA president Sepp Blatter said the association's executive had discussed the idea at an end-of-year meeting in Rome but wanted to examine it further before making a decision.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter and his UEFA counterpart Lennart Johansson said on Monday they were delighted with the support of British Prime Minister Tony Blair in their fight for a better deal with the European Commission over a new soccer transfer system.

LA Lakers star Kobe Bryant, the high-profile owner of Italian basketball club Olimpia Milano, has sold the stake he shared with his father after only 10 months

Sportal, the global provider of interactive sports content, has signed an extensive multi language sports content distribution deal with Yahoo! Europe.

Italian Serie A soccer club Udinese Calcio?s net profit for the 1999/2000 financial year ending on June 30 was 50.04 billion lire ($23.7 million) against a previous 4.10 billion lire.