Afghanistan

Formula One's governing body has rejected speculation that Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix was in doubt after the air strikes on Afghanistan.

The Australian government has told the national rugby team they should go ahead with their tour of Europe but warned them to keep a check on the security implications of US-led strikes on Afghanistan, officials said on Monday.

A senior Asian Games official has said Afghanistan's Taleban administration should change its top sports official after criticising Thailand's ability to host next month's Games.

A bruising three-month battle for the FIFA presidency reaches a climax on Monday when Sepp Blatter and Lennart Johansson contest the biggest job in soccer.

Several countries have withdrawn from events in December's Asian Games, officials of host country Thailand have reported.

Alexandru Siperco, veteran Romanian member of the IOC who persuaded Communist authorities to compete in the 1984 Los Angeles Games, died on Monday. He was 78.

The draw for the 2002 World Cup, the biggest in the tournament's 69-year history, will involve 195 nations and be seen live on Tuesday by a television audience of about one billion people.

Asian Games organisers has said the Olympic Council of Asia and the International Olympic Committee had withdrawn recognition from Afghanistan as two political parties claimed to represent the country.

The draw for the 2002 World Cup, the biggest in the tournament's 69-year history, will involve 195 nations and be seen live on Tuesday by a television audience of about one billion people.

Thailand will close all schools and colleges, suspend road works and deploy an army of policemen to prevent traffic jams during next month's Asian Games, the chairman of the organising committee said on Monday.

The draw for the 2002 World Cup, the biggest in the tournament's 69-year history, will involve 195 nations and be seen live on Tuesday by a television audience of about one billion people.

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.

Russians have commemorated the 20th anniversary of the opening of the 1980 Moscow Olympics, seen in the country as an unqualified success despite a debilitating boycott by Western countries.

Sports-loving mayor Yuri Luzhkov has said he wants Moscow to stage the 2012 Olympics.

Afghanistan is hoping to take part in a cricket tournament in Pakistan next month despite the fragile political situation in the region in the wake of the recent US terrorist attacks.

Kuwait has postponed next month's second West Asian Games because of tensions in the area following the attacks on the United States.

International sports leaders like to pretend to others, if not themselves, that sport is blissfully removed from politics.