France

The NFL is offering European television stations free access to game highlights with a new Sunday-night highlights service.

European Union (EU) sports ministers have reached broad agreement on a declaration on sport's distinctive status to be adopted by EU leaders at their December summit.

The Paris prosecuting office has launched a "preliminary enquiry" into doping allegations about the U.S. Postal cycling team, whose leader is double Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong, legal sources said.

Major shareholder Robert Louis-Dreyfus is expected to take over as president of struggling Olympique Marseille as France's best supported club gears up for major administrative changes.

IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch and 150 of Europe's Gold medal winners from Sydney attended the new Eurosport 'SportStar Awards' in Monaco last week.

Beleagured Olympique Marseille president Yves Marchand has said he intends to stand down `in the next few days?.

Germany's digital TV market is finally showing signs of growth, according to figures released by a German consumer electronics association.

World cycling chief Hein Verbruggen said the International Cycling Union (UCI) could not be responsible for drug-taking in the sport.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) will visit Beijing in February next year ahead of the vote in July to decide the host city of the 2008 Games, a Chinese Olympic bid official said on Tuesday.

Research agency, Sponsorship Research International (SRi), has reproduced figures suggesting that this summer?s Euro 2000 soccer tournament was rated only marginally less important by respondents than the Olympic Games.

World cycling chief Hein Verbruggen is expected to reply to claims of a doping cover-up by the International Cycling Union (UCI) when the Festina doping trial continues on Monday.

Germany is considering bidding for the Olympic Games and will unveil details of its plans next week, the German Olympic Committee (NOK) has said.

Eurosport has secured a broadcast sponsorship deal with computer processors supplier AMD for an extensive package of World Cup qualifying programming.

Toronto's bid to host the 2008 Olympic Games picked up momentum this week with a timely convergence of enthusiastic public support and a C$1.5-billion ($1 billion) pledge by government to redevelop Toronto's waterfront - the centrepiece of Toronto's Olympic vision.

Sportal has concluded a number of high profile deals that further re-enforce its position as one of the leading sports websites in France.

The International Basketball Federation (FIBA) has entered into a one-year agreement with the Paris-based photo department of Agence France Presse (AFP).