South Korea

Rapid Bucharest may be banned from international competition by FIFA for using an unauthorised agent to set up a player's transfer abroad, a Romanian official has said.

The Copyright Promotions Licensing Group PLC (CPLG) will launch its 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan licensing programme at this summer?s ISPO sports trade fair.

BSkyB has offered #250million for exclusive UK television rights to the World Cup 2002, according to The Observer newspaper.

FIFA General Secretary Sepp Blatter appears to be backing away from his proposal for a soccer World Cup to be held every two years, twice as often as at present. In an editorial in the world soccer body's monthly FIFA News, issued in advance of publication early next month, he said the key issue facing the game was harmonising the international match calendar. Blatter, whose proposal in a newspaper interview a year ago caused a storm of criticism as well as winning some support, said he had primarily aimed at sparking debate on the calendar.

The organisation of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games has received a ringing endorsement from the International Olympic Committee.

German insurer Albingia will provide insurance cover totalling 2.5 billion marks ($1.4 billion) for the next soccer World Cup in Japan and South Korea in 2002, Welt am Sonntag newspaper said on Sunday.

South Korean President Kim Dae-jung has said he hoped an International Olympic Committee initiative to host sports ties between North and South Korea would eventually lead to joint Korean teams for international competitions.

Asian soccer chiefs will decide on Tuesday whether to heed a call to boycott the 2002 World Cup in emergency talks on the region's representation in the finals.

Soccer?s World Cup has been dealt a triple-blow after three of the main sponsors from France 98 look set not to renew with FIFA?s commercial arm ISL.

Australia's greatest ever Olympian, swimmer Dawn Fraser, has warned the International Olympic Committee (IOC) of a possible athletes' protest at next year's Sydney Olympics if the organisation refused to reform itself properly.

Tournament co-host Japan will accept a FIFA proposal to hold a signing ceremony for the 2002 World Cup in Zurich on August 26 instead of in Tokyo this week, a Japanese organising committee official said on Tuesday.

Newly elected International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Jacques Rogge was left with no time to savour his triumph as he faced a daunting start to his eight-year term of office.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter has left open the possibility of a World Cup match in North Korea when South Korea and Japan co-host soccer's biggest global event next year ? and moved to allay fears over the World Cup in the light of the crisis at ISL. For the full story see the FEATURES section of sportbusiness.com.

FIFA's choice of Africa to host the 2010 World Cup was right and overdue, a leading Moroccan Football Federation official said on Friday.

The Nigerian Football Association (NFA) and players have resolved a dispute over bonus payments after a tense standoff at the weekend.

The woman running a race against the clock to stage the 2004 Olympics in Athens has dismissed talk that the city could lose the Games and said the Greek capital would lay on a sporting show to rival Sydney's success.