Germany

The European Commission has given the go-ahead for pay TV group Canal Plus and French telephone company Cegetel to take a majority stake in America Online France.

Germany's disastrous showing at soccer?s World Cup finals has not dampened the enthusiasm of fans, who have bought more tickets than ever for the Bundesliga season starting this weekend.

British health and fitness club Fitness First, listed on London?s Alternative Investment Market, has moved into Germany.

German online sports services saw a short but powerful surge in usage this summer, thanks in large part to coverage of the soccer World Cup, and some momentum has endured.

The European Commission has for the first time issued guidelines saying how competition rules should apply to the broadcasting of sports events.

UEFA's executive committee look set to discuss radical new changes to the format of their three European club competitions later this month in a bid to combat the threat of a breakaway Super League.

The proposed European Super League would not harm the Bundesliga, according to Bayern Munich president Franz Beckenbauer.

UEFA, battling to avert the creation of a breakaway Super League, it may merge two of Europe's three major competitions.

Saturday's Grand Prix final will be staged in Moscow as planned despite security fears among leading competitors, the International Amateur Athletic Federation has said.

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".

International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) president Primo Nebiolo has insisted it was safe to stage the Grand Prix final in Moscow.

Germany's opposition Greens party has called on Chancellor Helmut Kohl to follow national soccer team boss Berti Vogts and resign from office.

World athletics chief Primo Nebiolo has assured British Sports Minister Tony Banks that London would have a good chance of staging the 2003 world championships if proposed renovations to Wembley Stadium are completed.

Former Thai soccer coach Withaya Laohakul said he hoped a decision by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) to ban the country from international competition would only be a temporary punishment.

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.