China

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) said it would send an envoy to North Korea to initiate friendly sports exchanges between arch enemies North and South Korea.

South Korean President Kim Dae-jung has said he hoped an International Olympic Committee initiative to host sports ties between North and South Korea would eventually lead to joint Korean teams for international competitions.

China is considering rival bids by three of its largest cities - Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou - to host the 2008 Olympic Games, state media said on Monday.

China's soccer champions are seeking a new corporate sponsor because Dalian Wanda Group Co plans to withdraw support before the end of 1998, officials said on Wednesday.

The provisional 17-race schedule for next season was released Thursday by the FIA, auto racing's world governing body, at a meeting of the World Motor Sport Council.

The start of the Asian rugby union championship was thrown into disarray by the last-minute withdrawal of the Thai team on Saturday.

A Chinese domestic soccer match is to be transmitted live on the internet for the first time, an official of Shanghai Webtv Co Ltd said on Wednesday.

Malaysia's Deputy Sports Minister Datuk Loke Yuen Yow has said that Malaysia will bid to host subsequent Olympics even if it fails in its bid to hold the 2008 Games.

China's ancient martial art of wushu is fighting its way into the Olympic arena by seeking official recognition for the popular sport, state media has reported.

Iran's soccer federation is weighing an invitation to play friendly matches in the United States, a federation official has said.

Businessman Rod McGeoch, who spearheaded Sydney's bid to host the 2000 Olympic Games, has resigned from the board of the Games' organising committee.

China's capital city of Beijing has announced it will bid for the 2008 Summer Olympics, the official Xinhua news agency has said.

Malaysia has confirmed it will be bidding to host the 2008 Olympic Games.

Olympic boss Juan Antonio Samaranch has lavished praise on Thailand's much-maligned organisers of the 13th Asian Games, describing Sunday's opening ceremony as one of the best he had ever seen.

Olympic chief Juan Antonio Samaranch has gaven a clean bill of health to Chinese sport and said Beijing was now an example to the world of how to fight against drug cheats.

The French capital announced it was bidding for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games.

Asian soccer chiefs will decide on Tuesday whether to heed a call to boycott the 2002 World Cup in emergency talks on the region's representation in the finals.

Leading Olympic official Marc Hodler said he had gone public with his allegations that agents tried to rig votes on the hosting of Games because he did not want Salt Lake City to be seen as "villains".