Chile

Spain's Council of Ministers has allocated Pts3.5bn ($17.9m) for the XV Mediterranean Games which take place in Almeria 2005.

Ronaldo has denied suggestions that his sponsorship contract with sportswear giant Nike was behind an aborted decision to call him up for Brazil's World Cup qualifying game with Chile on Sunday.

A Congressional commission of inquiry investigating Brazilian soccer has accused Ricardo Teixeira, president of the country's soccer confederation, of tax evasion, mismanagement and illegally pocketing his organisation's money.

Players and fans of Racing Santander have backed the Spanish soccer club's threat not to play the last two matches of the season because of a dispute over the falsification of player passports.

Soccer tournament the Copa America finally kicks off in Colombia on Wednesday after weeks of furious argument over when and where it should be played but, as the action starts, ordinary fans may be asking what the fuss was about.

Sports rights marketing company Traffic has expressed dismay at poor ticket sales for the first two quarter-finals of the controversial Copa America.

Latin American pay-TV sports network PSN is to broadcast more than 100 matches from two of the region’s soccer tournaments – the Copa Mercosur and the Copa Merconorte.

Television distributor Venevision International has been chosen by satellite broadcaster DirecTV to sub-license the rights to the 2002 soccer World Cup in a number of Latin American nations.

Colombia is hoping to stage a new soccer tournament to fill the void left by the postponed Copa America.

Argentine officials admitted on Thursday that they were pessimistic about the chances of a quick end to the players' strike, the second to hit the domestic game this year.

Chile is to bid for soccer's Confederations Cup 2003 it was announced by the Chilean National Association of Professional Football (ANFP) yesterday.

Cameroon's soccer chief Vincent Onana is being investigated by judicial authorities over the alleged sale in Europe of World Cup tickets meant for Cameroon fans, officials said on Friday.

Former amateur golf international Santiago Fisas will become Spain's new secretary of state for sports, Spanish government officials have confirmed.

South America's latest club soccer tournament, a made-for-television affair called the Mercosur Cup, was met with stunning indifference as it kicked off this week.

The IOC continued to back away from controversial comments by drug chief Prince Alexandre de Merode, saying that the "progress in Spanish sport has nothing to do with doping".

European Cup holders Real Madrid lost their appeal against a one match home ban.