Australia

Two "shadow" teams could be added to the southern hemisphere's Super 12 this season, a leading South African official said on Tuesday.

Television rights for the next Rugby Union World Cup remain unsold with sole bidder BBC not rushing to meet rugby?s estimation of the worth of the event.

US broadcaster NBC and key Olympic sponsors were prepared to mount an alternative Olympics ? after the IOC became embroiled in the Salt Lake City scandal, according to the Australian press.

The 10 test-playing nations will compete for world supremacy under a new ranking system, International Cricket Council (ICC) president Malcolm Gray has said.

International cricket's anti-corruption chief has said weekend press reports detailing allegations of bribery and match-fixing were unsubstantiated and tarnished player reputations.

The Australian National Rugby League (NRL) have fined eight clubs a total of A$395,000 ($213,300) for breaching the 2000 salary cap.

Beijing declared itself ready for inspection for its bid for the 2008 Olympic Games, but urged the International Olympic Committee (IOC) not to let politics influence its judgement.

Australian owned event cleaning company Cleanevent have signed a contract with The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club for day-to-day cleaning, including the period of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships.

Athens 2004 Olympic Games organisers said they had secured two key sponsors - a bank that will pay more than any one previous local sponsor and a brewer that has tripled what its Australian counterpart paid.

U.S. network NBC has denied that it was trying to exert pressure to put back the times of events at the 2004 Athens Olympics because of prime time television at home.

Olympic chiefs are worried about the high numbers of top-class competitors taking steroid-based drugs for asthma at The Games which was at least six times greater than the normal average at last year's Sydney Games.

English third division soccer club Hull City have been locked out of their Boothferry Park home.

Australian cricket officials will meet Mark Waugh on Saturday to discuss allegations he took money from an Indian bookmaker in exchange for team information during a tournament in Hong Kong.

The Melbourne Cricket Ground, one of Australia?s greatest sporting venues, has purchased "Event Business Management Software" (EBMS) from St Louis, Missouri?based Ungerboeck Systems, Inc (USI).

The Super 12 competition could be expanded to 16 teams and the playing seasons of South Africa, New Zealand and Australia could be synchronised, according to reports from South Africa.

Australian Rugby Union (ARU) managing director John O'Neill wants France and England to join Australia, South Africa and New Zealand in the Tri-Nations series, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.