Australia

Australian elite sport groups are facing a $A15 million funding cut in April 2000. It is thought likely that the cuts will be handed down in the May Budget.

The Sydney Olympics Organizing Committee (SOCOG) has eased restrictions on Olympic Park access for non-rights holding broadcasters such as ESPN and Fox Sports Net, on the behest of the International Olympic Committee, reports USA Today.

Former Australian governor general Sir Ninian Stephen has been appointed to the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) ethics commission.

Olympic chiefs have said they did not expect violent demonstrations or sharks to upset the smooth running of this year's Sydney Games but added they were still planning for the "unexpected".

Sportsworld Media, the Australia-based sports programming and marketing company, has completed its #50m recommended offer for Sports and Outdoor Media International (SOMI) now that the acquisition has been declared wholly unconditional, reports the Financial Times.

United States Olympic Committee official Terry Madden has stepped down from his post to become chief executive officer of the new U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA).

UK independent pay-per-view broadcaster u>direct has secured exclusive UK TV rights to two `Challenge Series? of one-day cricket internationals between Australia and South Africa.

Richard Pound, vice president of the IOC, has emphasised the importance of keeping the Olympics on free-to-air TV, as he addressed delegates during the morning?s keynote speech at SportBusiness 2000.

Squash media and enthusiasts will be able to participate in the sport's first live worldwide interview with the world's leading women players - including England's world champion and world No1 Cassie Campion and Australia's former three-times world champion Sarah Fitz-Gerald - during the Com4Net Munich Open which gets underway in Germany today.

Time differences between the host country of major sporting events and the major TV markets do not impact heavily on broadcaster values, according to panelists at the Sport Business 2000 Conference.

A South African restaurant chain has terminated a multi-million rand advertising contract with disgraced cricket captain Hansie Cronje.

A new internet site catering for event organisers and sponsors, is being launched by S-Comm.

Four English county cricket clubs are to launch a new Inter-City flood-lit tournament featuring Surrey, Warwickshire, Lancashire and Yorkshire, according The Independent on Sunday newspaper.

On the day that News Corps and Vivendi have proposed a joint shareholding of their digital businesses, European media big-hitters Bertelsmann, Groupe Bruxelles Lambert and Pearson (PTV) have agreed to merge CLT-UFA, Europe's leading commercial television and radio broadcaster, with Pearson Television, the independent television production company.

England and France have emerged as the front runners in the bid to hosts the Rugby World Cup in 2007.

Sydney Olympics organisers have said hundreds of thousands of printed tickets were too big to fit into turnstiles.