Events

The number of tickets sold for the September Commonwealth Games has exceededthat for the last Games in Victoria in 1994. In Victoria, 190,000 ticketswere sold.

The Commonwealth Games organising committee has said that Australian team boss Perry Crosswhite had denied questioning Malaysia's ability to manage the games next month.

National Football League owners have accepted a $530 million bid for the expansion Cleveland Browns from businessman Alfred Lerner following one of the most intense bidding wars in sports history.

Sports marketing organisation ISL Worldwide has signed an accord giving French pay television group Canal Plus exclusive broadcasting rights in Europe to basketball events from 1999 to 2004.

French pay television company Canal Plus is in talks with four more Italian football clubs following its recent broadcasting rights accord with the country's four main teams, a company official has said.

NFL International has signed a two-year agreement with Coors for the sponsorship of NFL activities in the United Kingdom.

Athletics chiefs have revamped their fixture list for next season in a bid to make Wednesday nights a focal point for top-class track and field.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter repeated his belief that Africa should stage the soccer World Cup finals in 2006, in an interview published on Monday.

Racing tycoon Bernie Ecclestone's efforts to raise $2.0 billion with a controversial bond have received a fresh setback as bankers said the London Stock Exchange (LSE) was so far reluctant to list the security.

The 2002 World Cup finals in Japan and South Korea may be three days shorter than this year's 33-day tournament in France, FIFA president Sepp Blatter has said.

Asian soccer chiefs have gaven FIFA until March to avert a regional boycott of the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea by giving Asia the chance of an extra place in the finals.

Isolationist North Korea has never been officially approached about the possibility of hosting matches during the 2002 World Cup, a top Pyongyang sports official has said.

The bidding process for the right to stage the 2004 European soccer championship moves up a gear this week when UEFA inspectors go to Spain - the first visit to one of the bidding nations.

The Italian government are to prepare new rules limiting a single digital television broadcaster from owning more than 60 percent of rights to the total amount of football games, an Italian newspaper has reported.

Confusion over scheduling, disputes over judges' decisions, rumours of food poisoning and an upside down flag are some of the problems faced by organisers of this week's Asian Winter Games in South Korea.

A major corporate sponsor of the Sydney 2000 Games, car maker GM-Holden, has said it was concerned about the impact of the International Olympic Committee corruption crisis on its sponsorship investment.