Ireland

A bruising three-month battle for the FIFA presidency reaches a climax on Monday when Sepp Blatter and Lennart Johansson contest the biggest job in soccer.

A Dutch proposal to limit the number of countries allowed to bid to host the World Cup was rejected by FIFA's 51st Congress on Monday.

The International Tennis Federation (ITF) will vote next month on a proposal to abolish the let rule from the start of next year.

Driven by pressure to produce a more TV friendly product, tennis' governing body are to experiment with a 'no-ad' scoring system for certain tournaments.

Kellogg's and the National Basketball Association have signed a multi-year sponsorship agreement.

World rugby's governing body has failed to promote the sport outside its traditional strongholds and is in dire need of a serious shape-up, former Australian hero David Campese has said.

Tour de France director Jean-Marie Leblanc is planning a good conduct charter for the cycling classic marred this year by a huge doping scandal.

Yugoslav soccer chiefs say they regret UEFA's postponement of their European championship qualifier against Ireland scheduled for Saturday but would not lodge a protest.

Plan to restrict England tours to the three main southern hemisphere rugby nations are unlikely to be accepted by the sport's governing body, Australia Rugby Union chief executive John O'Neill said on Wednesday.

Famed English soccer club Manchester United Plc opened its first official retail store outside Britain on Thursday when it unveiled an outlet at Dublin airport, the club said in a statement.

International rugby union officials are to give countries the power to cancel tours if they feel their opponents are sending sub-standard teams following controversial trips to the southern hemisphere by British teams this year.

Two rest days will be included for the first time in next year's Tour de France but despite this year's doping scandal organisers have decided not to shorten the world's most famous endurance event.

South African coach Nick Mallett has called for a shorter season as the world champions embarked on their seventh grand slam tour of Britain and Ireland.

FIFA are about to tell seven leading English premier league clubs, including Manchester United and Liverpool, whether they will lose their Republic of Ireland stars this weekend.

South Africa's rugby boss Silas Nkanunu has said the Springboks' World Cup squad should be more racially representative and team selection needed to take into account the injustices of apartheid.

Premier golf tournament, the Ryder Cup, will be staged at the Kildare Hotel and Country Club, near Dublin in 2005, it has been officially announced.