Greece

The European Triathlon Union (ETU) says it is prepared to take legal action to recover the debts owed by the eight national triathlon federations, which last week announced the unsanctioned formation of the breakaway Triathlon Council for Europe.

Outgoing Sydney Olympics minister Michael Knight has confirmed that New South Wales (NSW) taxpayers would receive a $30 million (US$16.2 million) rebate from an additional $140 million raised shortly before the Games.

Olympic leaders brought the expansion of the Summer Games to a halt when they decided not to add new sports to the programme for the 2004 Olympics in Athens.

Local organisers of the Athens Olympics want Greeks to get more involved now that the IOC believe they are capable of staging the 2004 Summer Games.

African Games officials want to harmonise international sporting calendars to ensure their top athletes do not have to choose between lucrative overseas meetings and the continent's top event.

The European Triathlon Union (ETU) has announced it is to hold an extraordinary congress immediately to discuss the threatened split from the organisation by eight member nations.

Paris will stage the best Olympics ever if it wins the right to hold them in 2008, the bid organisers said in an official statement.

A former senior 2004 Athens Games official has accused the organising committee (ATHOC) of cultivating "virtual reality instead of substance and essence" and its president Gianna Angelopoulos of inertia.

Los Angeles has made a bid to host the summer Olympic Games for an unprecedented third time, saying it had the finance, facilities and experience that would allow Olympic officials to "sleep at night."

A leading executive with Olympic TOP sponsors Coca-Cola has called on the IOC and NBC to jointly design a new model for leveraging the advertising power of new media.

Greek Olympic chief Gianna Angelopoulos said on Monday that the sudden resignation of her number two would not upset the Athens 2004 Games preparations.

Investor hopes for an Olympics dividend from companies likely to prosper from the 2004 Summer Games in Athens have so far come to nothing, hammered by a year-long slide on the local bourse. For the full story see the FEATURES section of sportbusiness.com.

Greece's deputy chief for the 2004 Olympics resigned on Monday citing personal reasons after six months in the job, the organising committee (ATHOC) said.

Dick Pound, Chairman of IOC Internet Committee confirmed today that the Internet and TV rights for the Olympics will remain linked through to the 2008 games but also expressed the expectation that the territorial rights issues that currently prevent live video and audio broadcast over the internet could be solved.

A virtual sports institute is to be created to give Britain's top sportsmen and women access to the best advice and services wherever they are in the world.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has said the 2004 Summer Games will be held in Athens but urged Greek organisers to maintain a "sense of urgency" in their preparations.