Belgium

Europe's leading soccer leagues have taken on world governing body FIFA about releasing players for the controversial Confederations' Cup in January.

The final of the European Championship in 2000 will be held in the Feyenoord stadium in Rotterdam.

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.

Austria's joint-bid with Hungary to host the 2004 European soccer Championship finals should be taken "very seriously," Beppo Mauhart, the president of the Austrian F.A., has said.

British tycoon Bernie Ecclestone has met privately with several hundred investors to persuade them to lend him up to $2 billion under a previously planned bond issue for his Formula One Holdings motor racing empire.

Motor sport's ruling body has dismissed any suggestion that a media rights deal it had negotiated with racing mogul Bernie Ecclestone could be nullified by the European Commission.

Fans planning to attend the Euro 2000 soccer championship will be able to buy just two tickets per game, Belgian Interior Minister Luc Van den Bosshe has said.

A joint four nation Nordic bid to host the European Championship finals of 2008 is to be considered, a spokesman for the Danish soccer federation has said.

European soccer's ruling body UEFA said on Friday it was determined not to repeat the mistakes that blighted the ticketing arrangements for this summer's World Cup finals at the 2000 European championships.

A senior Brazilian soccer official warned that the game in his country could be plunged into crisis over plans for a Bosman-style law giving players freedom of movement when their contracts end.

Organisers of soccer's Euro 2000 tournament have taken steps to reassure supporters there will be no repeat of the ticket fiasco which blighted the build-up to last year's World Cup in France.

Organiser of soccer?s Euro 2000 championships has revealed preparations are on schedule and that stadiums would be ready a year in advance of the kick-off.

Eurocard-MasterCard has confirmed it has signed up as an official sponsor for soccer's Euro 2000 tournament.

The United Nations investigator for children's rights has reported that professional soccer had joined the list of sectors shamed by child trafficking from underdeveloped countries.

A year before the Euro 2000 soccer championships, organisers received a possible taste of things to come as hooligans linked to Rotterdam's Feyenoord fought with police and wrecked the centre of their own city.

The European Commission is to examine the ticketing arrangements for the Euro 2000 soccer championship finals for compatibility with EU competition rules.