Italy

The English Premier League remains the top revenue generator in European soccer, with competition for second place intensifying between Germany, Italy and Spain, according to the latest Deloitte & Touche Annual Review of Football Finance.

First it was Manchester United, now a number of other English soccer clubs are being courted with a view to opening branded casinos when UK gambling laws under reform.

UEFA and its partnering agency TEAM Marketing have concluded the sales process for the next Champions League TV rights contracts after announcing new deals in Austria, Italy, Portugal and the Czech Republic.

The Media Partners Group has appointed a new global sales manager as part of an internal restructuring at the Italian firm.

Television audiences for the MotoGP World Championships have shown an encouraging increase as the season reaches the half-way point.

Months after altering Formula One's rules to counter a slide in television ratings, the sport is considering more changes to boost attendances.

The ongoing legal case between Vodafone and F1 team owner Eddie Jordan has taken another twist after the High Court heard that the telecommunications firm did not inform Jordan that it had signed a deal to sponsor rival team Ferrari.

The Swiss Olympic Committee will decide at the start of next month whether the city of Zurich is to bid to host the 2014 Winter Olympics.

UEFA is close to completion of the TV rights sales process for the next Champions League contracts after agreeing a deal in Italy with RTI Mediaset, rounding off the free-to-air negotiations in the major European markets.

Joan Laporta has swept into power at Spanish soccer giant Barcelona after a landslide victory in the presidential election.

America's Cup holders Team Alinghi have made a shortlist of five candidate cities to host the 2007 sailing event.

The Turin 2006 Winter Olympics organising committee has lost its leading female member Cathy Priestner Allinger who has resigned her post to join the family business.

Viewing figures for this season's UEFA Champions League have risen sharply - with a cumulative live TV audience of 790 million.

Newly-crowned European soccer champions AC Milan are celebrating another success - a massive surge in visits to its official website.

A breakthrough in negotiations has been achieved which should lift the threat of a UEFA Champions League TV blackout in Italy - home of the newly crowned champions AC Milan.

UEFA's Champions' League will be rebranded as well as restructured, it was confirmed just prior to last night's final between AC Milan and Juventus.