Oceania

Australian insurance company Sportscover has announced a 36 percent increase in its policy business over the past two years.

The Sporting Frontiers Group - formed three years ago by Simon Halden, the former chief executive of Sports & Outdoor Media International (SOMI) has changed its name as it broadens its horizons.

BMW Melbourne has signed a major sponsorship deal with AFL team Melbourne Football Club.

Cricket governing body the ICC has clamped down hard on those refusing to play ball during its World Cup event - by withholding from a number of nations their share of tournament revenues.

Rugby's Hong Kong Sevens is set to go ahead as planned - despite the high-profile withdrawals of the Italian and French national teams.

Cricket's world governing body the ICC is expecting to generate a $188m ($177m) profit pot from the current World Cup which concludes this weekend in Johannesburg.

The Hong Kong Sevens rugby union tournament is the latest sports event to be disrupted by the onset of the war in Iraq.

Soccer Australia has further boosted its television revenue after securing a pay-TV rights deal with the Expo Channel for coverage of the National Soccer League (NSL).

The Australian city of Melbourne has withdrawn its bid to host the World Swimming Championships in 2007.

Former IMG executive James Ashworth has been named the new general manager of CART's Lexmark Indy 300 in Australia.

Max Mosley, president of motorsport governing body the FIA, has ruled out wide ranging changes to the new rules introduced to Formula One at the start of the season.

Security around the remaining fixtures of the Cricket World Cup has been stepped up as the political crisis in the Middle East deepens.

The future of the Australian leg of the World Rally Championship has been secured after a new deal was reached between motorsport governing body the FIA and the race organisers.

Australian soccer chiefs have scrapped plans to stage a friendly against Argentina in the UK amid fears the fixture could lose money.

The chief of the Australian Rugby Union has been named Sport Executive of the Year at the Australian Sports Awards in Melbourne.

Formula One chiefs will today start the process of examining how the new changes impacted on the sport, after TV viewers were treated to a thrilling opening Grand Prix of the season - and the perfect tonic to last season's woes.