Netherlands

The World Cup will return to Germany after a 32-year absence but for Franz Beckenbauer the 2006 tournament will be an entirely new experience for Germany following unification.

Euro 2000 organisers say they are concerned at the scale of demand for tickets on the black market but insist it will not undermine their strict security plans.

A huge image of Dutch soccer midfielder Edgar Davids will be plastered on the Netherlands' tallest office building as the Dutch begin to hype Euro 2000.

The NFL is planning to show Sunday afternoon football in the Netherlands, Austria and Singapore via the Internet starting this weekend.

This season's European Cup Final - likely to be the last under the current format - will be played at the Nou Camp Stadium, home of Barcelona.

The Football Association of Ireland (FAI) has announced plans to build a 45,000-seat, #65 million ($96 million) international soccer stadium in southwest Dublin.

Organisers of last year's soccer World Cup have been fined just 1,000 Euros (#650) over the ticket fiasco which dogged the tournament.

The Greek FA (EPO) has called on the Greek government to throw their backing behind a joint bid with Turkey to stage the European soccer championship in 2008.

Eleven clubs from five of Europe's smaller nations attacked the growing gap between soccer's rich and poor on the continent and said they would unveil concrete proposals for a "Euroleague" early next year.

About 10,000 children below the age of 14 are working in India's sports goods industry at a fraction of the minimum wage, a report on adult and child labour in the country's football (soccer) industry has said.

Sportswear giant adidas-Salomon has signed a new outfitting deal with Dutch soccer side Ajax Amsterdam to start with the new season.

ESPN International has acquired a package of more than fifty 2002 World Cup qualifying matches from the European group, including matches involving England, Italy, Germany, Spain, The Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Norway, Croatia, Yugoslavia, Denmark and Portugal.

Fast-food chain McDonalds apologised to Maltese footballers for a Dutch advertisement poking fun at their chances of making it into the European championship this summer.

The organisers of Euro 2000 responded to complaints of major ticketing problems, saying that only "a few hundred" fans had suffered because of mistakes in the ticket allocation process.

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.

Dutch International Olympic Committee (IOC) member Anton Geesink has said he was innocent of any wrongdoing and slammed Dutch media for turning public opinion against him.