Qatar

Tracy Edwards (pictured) has struck back at critics of a rival sailing event which claims she stole their ideas when announcing her own series of events earlier this month.

The new series of international sailing events based in and around Qatar have been labelled as "thinly disguised copies" of an existing concept in an angry retort to the series' launch last week.

Sepp Blatter will remain FIFA president until 2007 after a meeting of the soccer governing body's Extraordinary Congress agreed to extend his term by an extra year.

Gulf state Qatar has signed a $63m sponsorship for a new series of international sailing races.

Africa soccer chiefs say they will not back any one bid in the running for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

FIFA has handed all ticket responsibility for the 2006 World Cup to the German organising committee.

MotoGP has unveiled its new calendar for 2004 - with Qatar the only new addition, following the signing earlier this summer of a new five-year hosting agreement.

Speaking to sportbusiness.com, a senior executive at English soccer sponsors Nationwide has slated suggestions by FIFA president Sepp Blatter to reduce the size of the top soccer leagues - claiming it will have major negative impacts on commercials deals.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter is to put forward proposals to reduce the number of teams in the major domestic soccer leagues.

Hong Kong is to bid to host the 5th East Asian Games scheduled to be held in 2009.

Qatar will host a round of the MotoGP championship next season after signing a deal with the property's commercial partnering agency Dorna Sports.

European soccer's governing body is set to approve its budget for the 2003/4 financial year when the XXVII Ordinary UEFA Congress takes place in Rome at the end of this month.

The president of the Somali Football Federation, Farah Addo, has been ordered to pay FIFA president Sepp Blatter CHF10,000 ($7,428/EUR6,807) for defamatory statements made against him.

This week's European golf tour event in Qatar is defying a number of big name stay-aways and going ahead as planned.

The FIFA World Cup 2014 will be staged in South America, soccer's world governing body has confirmed.

Soccerex 2003 has confirmed the inclusion of a number of new exhibitors attending this year's event at the Jumeirah Beach Hotel in Dubai on March 23-24.