Greece

The IOC rolls into Athens today for the final full inspection ahead of this summer’s Olympic Games – and just a week after a bomb blast in the city centre once again turned all attention to the preparations for the event.

Organisers of the Athens Olympic Games have moved to allay fears over security following yesterday’s bomb attack on the Greek capital.

Security around this year’s Olympic Games in Athens will come under the spotlight once again this week after the Greek capital was hit by three explosions this morning.

The IOC has confirmed Chris Welton and Laurent Scharapan - co-founders of marketing arm Meridian – have quit the company.

Swimwear giant Speedo has signed an endorsement deal with US world record holder Natalie Coughlin.

Tickets for this summer’s two soccer festivals, organised to boost interest levels in the return of the professional women’s soccer league the WUSA, have gone on sale.

The cost of staging this summer’s Olympic Games in Athens has put an extra EUR1bn on the budget, the Greek government has revealed.

Sports Marketing Surveys has become the official research supplier to the British Olympic Association (BOA).

International TV data bank service Eurodata TV is to launch a service during this summer’s Euro 2004 to provide its clients with overnight TV audiences of all the tournament’s matches.

The Athens Olympic Games is finally back on track, according to a senior IOC figure currently visiting the sites to be used for the event.

Athens organisers are set to see the first section of the huge roof for the Olympic Stadium put into place this week, as it prepares itself for the latest visit by the IOC.

FIFA’s TV partner Infront Sports & Media has reached an exclusive agreement with Australian network SBS for the broadcast rights for the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany.

Organisers of a number of summer soccer festivals across the US aimed at paving the way for a return of the women’s professional league, have scrapped plans for a third event because of a clash with the Olympic Games.

At last some good news for organisers of the Athens Olympic Games; ticket sales are soaring, and its revenue targets are coming into range.

The restructuring of the US Olympic Committee has taken a major step forward after applications started to come in online for four independent places on its revamped board of directors.

The prime minister of Greece has ‘guaranteed’ a safe Olympic Games in Athens – and admitted the city cannot lose ‘an hour’ in its race to complete work in time for the opening ceremony.