Thailand

Only 6,745 athletes from 42 nations have registered to take part in next month's Asian Games by the deadline this week, compared with the anticipated total of more than 8,700, the Games organising committee said.

U.S. agents have arrested three Taiwanese and a U.S. citizen on charges of smuggling millions of dollars worth of counterfeit golf equipment into the United States, the U.S. Customs Service has said.

Britain?s Liverpool Football Club is looking for an Asian affiliate for a television channel the club hopes to set up with Granada Television, a major Liverpool shareholder.

Sportasia.com, the Asian internet sports content producer, syndicator and distributor, has appointed Ikuya Tanaka of Dentsu?s Sports Marketing Division as a board director.

Phil Knight, CEO of the Beaverton Oregon based sporting goods manufacturer, bowed to pressure and announced that the company would raise the minimum wages for workers in it's Asian plants.

Caltex Oil (Thailand) Ltd is stepping up its promotion campaign in the run-up to the Asian Games, for which it is a major sponsor.

Athletes from cash-strapped Laos and Cambodia will be given free accomodation at next week's Asian Games in Thailand, officials have said.

Pepsi-Cola International has launched the first TV commercial featuring English soccer giants Manchester United in Thailand - where there is a fanatical following for the Premiership winning team.

Asian sports broadcaster ESPN STAR Sports (ESS) has acquired the exclusive terrestrial, cable and satellite television broadcast rights of the English Premier League for the next three seasons beginning August 2001.

The third Asian X Games Qualifier (AXQ) will take place this year in Phuket, Thailand from 7-10 December.

The organisers of 13th Asian Games in Bangkok are expecting an estimated incomeof 230,834,000 baht ($5.9m) from the ticket sales.

The start of the Asian rugby union championship was thrown into disarray by the last-minute withdrawal of the Thai team on Saturday.

Thai immigration police have said they had detained four Pakistanis they suspect may have been plotting a bomb attack during the Asian Games.

About 700 young Thai boxers aged from 10 to 15 years have staged a noisy protest against a boxing bill that would ban children from Thailand's national sport.

Manchester United wants to increase sales from its merchandising operation abroad by transferring responsibility for its overseas stores to regional partners with local expertise.

Toyota is to continue its sponsorship of ESPN's Asia X Games Qualifier - following on from the inaugural event last year.

Asia's severe economic situation has cast doubts over the completion of construction for the Bangkok Asian Games.

Several countries have withdrawn from events in December's Asian Games, officials of host country Thailand have reported.