United Kingdom

The organisers of Euro 2000 responded to complaints of major ticketing problems, saying that only "a few hundred" fans had suffered because of mistakes in the ticket allocation process.

The Prince of Wales, Prime Minister Tony Blair and film star Hugh Grant will lead attempts to impress international soccer chiefs who will inspect England's World Cup 2006 facilities this week.

Rugby World Cup chiefs are unlikely to answer calls to shut the retractable roof on Cardiff's new Millennium Stadium for Saturday's World Cup final and stage the first indoor test unless the players' safety is threatened.

English Premier League West Ham United have been given the go-ahead to redevelop their London home Upton Park.

UK Minister of Sport Kate Hoey and government officials are examining the terms of Wembley's #120 million lottery funding to see if the money should be paid back by Wembley National Stadium Limited (WNSL), a subsidiary of the Football Association.

Italian champions AC Milan will launch their own television channel in January, the club has announced.

English Premier League club Aston Villa has won approval from Birmingham city council to expand its Villa Park stadium, increasing capacity to more than 50,000 from 39,200.

A string of leading Internet firms have emerged as favourites to land a mutli-million dollar shirt sponsorship deal with European soccer champions Manchester United.

The rugby union governing bodies of Ireland, Scotland and Wales have agreed to sign with the BBC for a further two years for live coverage of their home international matches.

Last year's Cricket World Cup generated a #30m profit, according to a report by the England and Wales Cricket board.

Dick McGruther, the Australian Rugby Union chairman criticised the English rugby establishment yesterday, demanding that they pull their clubs into line after three years of inertia

Britain's tabloid newspapers have been warned to beware of inciting violence during next month's World Cup.

World cricket's governing body have acted to prevent a repeat of the pitch fiasco that caused international matches in India and West Indies to be abandoned during the 1997-98 season.

A Dutch proposal to limit the number of countries allowed to bid to host the World Cup was rejected by FIFA's 51st Congress on Monday.

UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, embarrassed by English soccer fans who ran riot at the World Cup, has urged the employers of convicted hooligans to get tough with them.

The recently formed Sports and Outdoor Media International Plc will be valued at #23.4m when it floats on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) in London.