Greece

The Greek Orthodox Church wants to own three luxury hotels in Athens by the 2004 Olympic Games and will soon call an international tender to find companies to build and manage the facilities.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has said it is pleased with progress on sponsorship and marketing of the 2004 Athens Games, but has expressed concern over accommodation issues, as its three-day visit to Greece draws to a close.

While the 2008 Olympic Games will last only 16 days, host cities will feel their effects long after the awarding of the final gold medals, according to a new report.

French President Jacques Chirac, promoting the Paris bid to stage the 2008 Olympic Games, has told Russian Olympic officials that the organisation of the Games would be problem-free if they were held in the French capital.

Hyundai signs $14m sponsorship deal with Athens 2004

Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis urged Athens 2004 Olympic Games organisers (ATHOC) on Wednesday to keep working hard to make the event a success.

Greece expects a record Paralympics participation in 2004 after ironing out problems with the International Paralympics Committee (IPC), officials said on Wednesday.

After a campaign which will be remembered for human rights demonstrations and a few ill-chosen words about cannibalism, Olympic chiefs will decide the venue of the 2008 Summer Games this week at what is expected to be an historic meeting.

New York's international network, many hotels and plans to build new sports arenas amounted to a strong bid to stage the 2012 Summer Olympic Games, a United States Olympic Committee (USOC) panel said.

The Olympic Games have become so big they risk pressuring host cities into building big facilities that become "white elephants" once the athletes have packed up their medals and gone home, the new head of International Olympics has said.

Weakness in the US economy, further aggravated by the attacks in the United States, does not seem to be cutting into corporate support for the upcoming Olympics in Utah, a spokeswoman for the group that enlists sponsors has said.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) executive body has begun a five-day meeting in Greece amid growing concerns over delays in preparation for the 2004 Athens Games.

Greece has unveiled its emblem for the 2004 Summer Olympic Games, chosing a simple olive wreath to underline its desire to take the Games back to their roots.

The Organising Committee for the 2004 Olympic Games hope to make 100bn drachmas ($326m) from the licensing of the new Athens 2004 logo, according to a Financial Times registered source.

A clash between football and athletics bosses over London's Wembley Stadium is compromising Britain's hopes of staging future Olympic Games, the British Olympic Association's chief executive has said.

The European Commission has backed the idea of a world sports anti-doping agency but wants guarantees about how it would operate.