Australia

The Australian Rugby Union (ARU) has declared that the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in Britain will not prevent the British and Irish Lions from touring in the summer.

Preparations for the British Lions rugby union tour of Australia are in trouble after the foot-and-mouth disease crisis put the entire Six Nations tournament in doubt.

Kerry Stokes, Seven Network's chief, has not revealed the profit the television network derived from its coverage of the 2000 Olympic Games.

TVNZ Satellite Services has appointed the ex-BBC and BSkyB specialist Jenny Webb to head its new regional office in Sydney.

German newspaper Bild has estimated Ferrari?s Michael Schumacher's wage for the Formula One season at 110 million marks ($51 million).

Three Australian soccer clubs - believed to be Eastern Pride, Canberra Cosmos and Brisbane Strikers - are understood to have been told they have failed to satisfy the financial criteria set down by Soccer Australia for inclusion in the new National Soccer League next season.

Poor ticket sales for the Malaysian Formula Grand Prix has been blamed on hotel owners hiking up room prices, according to the circuit?s owner.

Tony Labbozzetta is the new chairman of Soccer Australia.

International Rugby Board chairman Vernon Pugh says the 2003 Rugby Union World Cup is on course to be the best Cup ever.

Australian newspaper reports suggest there will soon be an announcement of a Sydney rugby tournament in which both codes of the game will meet half way in a hybrid game.

Hosts Australia will push ahead with plans to stage some matches at the 2003 Rugby World Cup indoors despite continued opposition to the idea from the Northern Hemisphere.

The most powerful man in world rugby union has reassured Australia that it would still be allowed to stage the 2003 World Cup despite concerns over the federal government's ban on Fijian sporting teams. For more on this see FEATURES section of sportbusiness.com.

America's 2004 Olympic athletics team will be chosen at the same site that hosted the 2000 Sydney Games trials, USA Track & Field officials have said.

Australia said it would allow New Zealand to host one of the two semi-finals at the 2003 World Cup to prevent a feud developing between the co-hosts.

Communications firm Telstra has secured a naming rights deal for the 2001 International Soccer Expo, to be held in Australia in June.

ITC Ltd , India's largest cigarette maker, has invited proposals to take over its sponsorship of the nation's cricket team following a government move to discourage tobacco advertising.