Canada

Pakistan cricket authorities, keen to try to exorcise the spectre of match-fixing allegations, have told Sharjah Cup organisers they will not come to Sharjah again if they see bookmakers approaching the team.

NBA commissioner David Stern has said that even though attractive new venues beckon, no expansion is in the works and the league would prefer that teams stay in their current cities.

A vote scheduled by NBA team owners on the sale of the Vancouver Grizzlies to billionaire Bill Laurie was postponed at the request of the team's current owner John McCaw.

Tod Leiweke, who has held management posts with several sports teams and organisations, has been named the first president of the NHL expansion Minnesota Wild.

New world athletics chief Lamine Diack has called for a more sympathetic approach to drug offenders after accepting the job of interim International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) president until August 2001.

The Women's Tennis Association has signed a five-year sponsorship contract worth $34m with Sanex, manufacturers of body care products. It is thought to be the biggest sponsorship in the history of women's sports.

The owner of Toronto?s SkyDome, Sportsco International, has appointed Jake Geleerd its new president.

The owner of the Ottawa Senators has said he would entertain U.S. offers for his National Hockey League club but said he was confident the government would give him enough of a tax break to be able to keep the team in Ottawa.

Fotoball USA, a leading provider of custom made sports and non-sports related balls, has signed an agreement with The Coca-Cola Company to produce licensed sporting goods such as footballs, basketballs and volleyballs.

Fox Sports World and Fox Sports World Espanol will televise delayed coverage of the Football Confederation Gold Cup 2000 tournament to viewers across the United States and Puerto Rico in February 2000.

Glenn Young has been appointed vice-president, advertising sales for the Canadian SkyDome ? home of the Toronto Blue Jays Baseball Club.

Said CSA president Jim Fleming: "We have requested this information from FIFA with a view towards submitting a bid for the 2003 World Youth Championship

Canadian Olympic gold medalist Myriam Bedard has announced she is suing Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co. for C$725,000 ($500,000).

Plans by discount department store magnate Bill Laurie, who already owns the NHL's St. Louis Blues and the Kiel Centre arena, to buy the NBA?s Grizzlies have collapsed.

A Canadian Internet site which rebroadcast NFL and NBA coverage without authorisation is being sued by the leagues, 10 US movie companies and three TV networks.

The Vancouver Grizzlies team of the NBA has been sold to Chicago billionaire Michael Heisley, who said he had no plans to move the struggling franchise out of Canada.

Japan has thrown its hat into the ring to host the 2008 Summer Olympics, officially entering Osaka as its candidate and vowing a "clean" campaign to win the right to hold the games.

A U.S. judge has blocked a Canadian web site from broadcasting copyrighted U.S. television shows until next month, when he hears arguments in lawsuits brought by ten Hollywood movie studios, three TV networks and two professional sports leagues.