Saudi Arabia

Players in Thailand's national soccer team will earn $44,000 (B

The Thailand Football Association has written to FIFA to request a change of venue for their Asian World Cup qualifying match scheduled for Baghdad on Friday, a Thai official said on Tuesday.

Players in Thailand's national soccer team will earn $44,000 (?50,000) between them for each away game they win during the second phase of Asia's World Cup qualifying tournament.

The Extreme Sports Channel has extended its coverage beyond Europe after it signed a deal with pay-TV platform Showtime in the Middle East and Africa.

The postponement of this year's FIFA World Club Championship in Spain could damage soccer?s credibility in Japan, according to the president of J. League club Jubilo Iwata.

More than a dozen countries have declared an interest in hosting either of the next two editions of the World Club Championship, FIFA said on Thursday.

Martina Hingis and Mary Pierce did not exactly blaze a trail for feminism when they played in the first women's tennis tournament in the Gulf region this week. But they were part of a quiet revolution taking place in the area.

UEFA Cup and European Super Cup winners Galatasaray and European champions Real Madrid will represent Europe at the second World Club Championship from July 29 to August 12 in Spain, FIFA said on Thursday.

FIFA and Brazilian television and marketing agency Traffic International have signed a contract guaranteeing soccer's world governing body at least 60 million Swiss Francs ($39.71 million) in broadcasting rights for the first World Club Championship.

Facts about the FIFA vote to decide who stages the 2006 World Cup finals, which will take place on Thursday in Zurich.

Japan and Saudi Arabia will host the round-robin, quarter-final stages of the Asian Club Championship, the Asian Football Confederation announced.

The losing investors in the failed online sportswear e-tail venture Boo.com have been identified by the Financial Times.

South Korea's preparations for the co-hosting of the 2002 World Cup are well on track to be completed before the December 2001 deadline set by FIFA, according to event co-ordinator Peter Velappan.

Europe's leading soccer leagues have taken on world governing body FIFA about releasing players for the controversial Confederations' Cup in January.

The campaign team behind South Africa's bid to host the 2006 World Cup will end its global charm offensive in the coming week with visits to Saudi Arabia and Turkey.

FIFA are looking into the possibility of rescheduling the Confederations Cup from January to August 1999 after world champions France withdrew last month.