Pacific Islands
Business

The Fiji Rugby Union has signed a $42,000 (EUR43,500) sponsorship deal with Nestle aimed at improving the game at the grassroots level.

With only a month to go until the World Cup begins soccer fever builds with Soccerex, the international conference and exhibition for the business of soccer, the semi-finals of the Champions League, the controversial FIFA Executive EGM and the Oceania Football Confederation Congress in Tonga.

The 2002 Pacific Rim rugby tournament has been scrapped to make way for regional qualifiers for the 2003 World Cup, Japanese officials of the game have confirmed.

Australian rugby union chief John O'Neill is to push for a Super 15 series in 2003 with the addition of a combined Pacific team from Tonga, Samoa and Fiji.

A South Pacific rugby union team seems likely to become a reality with England proposed as its first opposition.
Business

The first round of the World Sevens Series has been moved from Dubai to Durban in South Africa, the International Rugby Board (IRB) has said.

The International Rugby Board (IRB) has defended its plan to stage an annual match between the northern and southern hemispheres after criticism from the Australian and New Zealand unions.
Business

Sir Rodney Walker, the UK’s Rugby Football League (RFL) chairman, has rejected calls for his resignation after making losses at last year’s World Cup.
Business

Dick Pound has been persuaded to stay on as chairman of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) despite earlier claims he would resign from the post following his defeat in the race to be president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
Stadia

International Olympic Committee (IOC) representatives completed a seven-day visit to East Timor on Wednesday aimed at helping the tiny country establish its own National Olympic Committee.
Business

World rugby union chiefs have said they had no contingency plans to stage the 2003 World Cup outside Australia and New Zealand, the two countries due to co-host the event.
Stadia

Safety chiefs are checking the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff before this weekend?s World Cup game between Wales and Japan to ensure there is no repeat of last week's incident when a woman was injured by debris falling from the roof.

Tickets for Melbourne?s 2006 Commonwealth Games look set to be snapped up as quickly as Olympic seats, according to the organising committee.
Business

The Australian Rugby Union (ARU) has said it might lose the right to host the Brisbane Sevens, part of an 11-tournament world series, because of Canberra's ban on Fiji's participation.

The three southern hemisphere rugby superpowers have announced they would not in future accept tours from understrength United Kingdom teams.
Business

The Oceania Football Confederation is expected to elect Australian Basil Scarsella as its new president on Thursday in place of New Zealand's Charlie Dempsey who controversially quit the post in July.
Stadia

Melbourne has been officially named as the host city for the 2006 Commonwealth Games, Australian officials said.
Events

New Zealand said it will continue a ban on sporting contacts with Fiji until the troubled island makes enough progress towards restoring a constitutional and democratic government to warrant a change.