Greece

The first Conference of Sponsors for the Athens 2004 Olympic Games has begun its deliberations in Athens, with both national and international sponsors, executives of Athens 2004 and members of the IOC marketing department in attendance.

The BBC tried to block its rival Channel 5 advertising at the England v Greece soccer match in Athens on Wednesday night.

The Athens Olympic Organising Committee (ATHOC) has announced that it has attracted 93 per cent of its national sponsorship revenue target for the 2004 Games.

According to unofficial figures, UK broadcaster the BBC scooped an average TV audience of 10.3 million for its coverage of the soccer match between England and Greece in a World Cup qualifier last Wednesday.

Beijing seems to be cruising towards victory in the race to stage the 2008 Olympic Games, despite human rights demonstrations on the IOC’s doorstep and Chinese stadiums that currently exist only as computer graphics.

UK firm Enic plc, which has interests in a number of European soccer clubs, has sold its stake in AEK Athens to Greek company Ippoventure SA.

English based multi soccer club owner Enic has denied selling its 33 percent stake in Greek outfit AEK Athens. A club statement said that Enic had sold the stake to Greek company Ippoventure SA.

The insurance costs for the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens are expected to topple the $25.2m (B

UK satellite broadcaster Sky Sports is to use split-screen technology for its pay-per-view coverage of the final soccer World Cup qualifying matches in England's group.

Proactive Sports Group Plc, the UK-based sports management and marketing company, which listed on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) in May 2001, has acquired Sysware Trading Limited, the holding company of Sportsline Management Company, based in Greece.

Heineken is to use its sponsorship of the Athens 2004 Olympic Games by creating a major superstore in the host city.

Britain's Craig Reedie will bid for a place on the International Olympic Committee (IOC)'s ruling executive board when the organisation appoints a new president for the first time for 21 years next month.

Olympic boss Jacques Rogge is confident swimming's governing body FINA will agree to start testing for erythropoietin (EPO), one of the most dangerous banned drugs in sport.

The people of Athens are likely to benefit most from transport improvements to the city for the 2004 Olympic Games, according to Athens 2004 president Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki.

Hurt by the biggest corruption scandal in its history as well as the perennial problem of drugs, it is no surprise that the Olympic movement appears keen to call on a clean-cut doctor to run its affairs.

TalkSport, the UK radio station run by former editor of The Sun newspaper Kelvin McKenzie, has filed a complaint to the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) saying the BBC allegedly abused its dominant position by overpaying for the rights to broadcast sports events on radio.