France

Jean-Luc Vandenbroucke, former chief of the Lotto cycling team and uncle of Belgian cycling star Frank, has been charged in a Belgian court with forgery and involvement in doping, according to local media reports.

Sports.com has launched a new motor sport site ? Rally Arena ? and has enlisted the support of FIA World Rally Championship pace-setters Ford Racing as founding sponsor.

Sports.com has signed a deal to publish the official web site of the French Olympic team.

UEFA inspectors have found the Stade de France in perfect condition to stage the European Cup final, a spokesman for the stadium's administrators said.

Internet portal Sportal has launched its first TV advertising campaign ? due to run until Euro 2000.

Organisers of Euro2000 are using a similar ticketing system to the last soccer World Cup in France, whereby ticket holders will have the name of the buyer printed on the ticket. In theory, the name must tally with the fan turning up at the ground. Police will also be checking to see if a ticket purchaser has a hooligan record.

FORMER Marseille owner Bernard Tapie, who has been out of football since the 1993 Marseilles match-fixing scandal, is set to make a return to the game ? possibly in Italy.

Juventus's Alessandro Del Piero is the world's best paid soccer player, according to a survey conducted by the magagzine France Football.

The media arm of Spanish telecoms giant Telefonica may lead a European soccer superleague project which would replace the current Champions League format, a company source has said.

ESPN has created a new promotional campaign for its four Latin American networks called The Best of European Soccer sponsored by Kodak. The promotion will run throughout April in Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Mexico .

Media Content has signed a deal with Canal Plus to launch World Wrestling Federation Entertainment in France.

NHL International, in conjunction with ESPN International, will distribute the 2000 NHL

A French proposal for a European watchdog to oversee the financial activities of soccer clubs is winning approval from other nations, French officials have said.

On the day that News Corps and Vivendi have proposed a joint shareholding of their digital businesses, European media big-hitters Bertelsmann, Groupe Bruxelles Lambert and Pearson (PTV) have agreed to merge CLT-UFA, Europe's leading commercial television and radio broadcaster, with Pearson Television, the independent television production company.

The European Union and its member states could be treated as a single country and only host two grands prix a year in the future, according to International Automobile Federation (FIA) president Max Mosley.

England and France have emerged as the front runners in the bid to hosts the Rugby World Cup in 2007.