Belgium

The European Commission has welcomed FIFA's willingness to work towards devising new soccer transfer rules, and accused critics of misrepresenting its own policy on the issue.

A letter outlining FIFA's proposal for the overhaul of the transfer system has been forwarded to European Union competition commissioner Mario Monti.

Bayern Munich president Franz Beckenbauer has criticised the European Commission's (EU) plans to overhaul the soccer transfer system, saying they would cause players' wages to spiral out of control.

Moldovan side Constructorul-93 Chisinau have been banned from European club competitions for one year and had player Iurii Mirza banned for two years following last month's tie against CSKA Sofia.

World and European soccer chiefs, along with league, club and player representatives, were holding an emergency meeting on Thursday to find counter proposals to the European Commission's plans to dismantle the sport's transfer system.

Disputed offside decisions will be a thing of the past if Belgian inventor Antoon Soetens has his way.

Holders Real Madrid will find out their first opponents in the 2000/2001 Champions League on

Sports marketing giant Octagon, has taken a substantial equity position in Consultants In Sport (CIS), a leading sports marketing company in Belgium and Holland.

Rumours continued to swirl that Major League Baseball's Toronto Blue Jays were about to be sold to media powerhouse Rogers Communications Inc. , but both the potential suitor and the team's current owner refused to comment on whether the two sides are in the final innings of a blockbuster deal.

Leading Swedish clubs AIK Stockholm, IFK Gothenburg and Helsingborg might be interested in playing in a new European league if governing body UEFA backs the idea.

World soccer's governing body FIFA has said it would move this week to head off European regulators' attempts to declare its transfer rules illegal.

Glasgow Rangers chairman David Murray has revealed that the Ibrox club, along with rivals Celtic, have agreed in principle to join a new pan-European football league.

FIFA will not change the result of the vote that gave the 2006 World Cup finals to Germany despite an appeal being mounted by narrow losers South Africa, a FIFA official said on Thursday.

Britain's House of Lords has voted through a government bill that will stop soccer hooligans from travelling abroad.

The South African Football Association is to hold talks with FIFA tomorrow to discuss the aftermath of the controversial decision to award Germany the right to stage the 2006 World Cup.

South African soccer officials have landed in Australia to meet Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) members in a quest to challenge the award of the 2006 World Cup to Germany.

South Africa?s 2006 bid leader Danny Jordaan will ask FIFA to award his country the 2010 World Cup, following the controversial vote to give Germany the tournament in 2006.

The Russian Football Union is asking the government to bankroll its bid to host the European soccer championship in 2008.