Italy

The brother of Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has ruled himself out of the running to replace him as president of Italian soccer giant AC Milan.

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is set to stand down as president of soccer club AC Milan after the country's parliament passed a conflict of interest bill yesterday.

Today is the last day for contenders to formally indicate their intention to host the 2005 World Athletics Championships. The International Association of Athletic Federations (IAAF) is expected to receive bids from six cities.

Platini, who had a glittering playing career leading France to victory in the 1984 European Championships and also later managed the side, is hoping to gain a seat on both bodies during elections at the UEFA Congress in Stockholm on April 25.

Fourteen candidates have been proposed for seven seats on UEFA's Executive Committee ahead of its elections on April 24.

Italy's Ferrari sports and racing car company, the current Formula One world champions, may consider a future Milan stock market listing, chairman Luca Cordero di Montezemolo has said.

Octagon Motorsports has signed a deal with Eurosport, securing the rights to the Endurance FIM World Championship until 2006.

Rome has made a formal bid to host the World Athletics Championships in 2005, the third-biggest sporting event in the world, Italy's Athletics Federation FIDAL has confirmed.

Italian Serie A club AC Milan will have to sell their players to remain in business, according to reports in the Italian press and today's Daily Telegraph newspaper.

Italian soccer club Juventus has said net profit in the first half of its 2001-2002 financial year to end-December rose to EUR37.3m against EUR10.6m in the same period a year ago.

O'Neill moving media, the European distributor of revolving perimeter advertising boards, has signed an exclusive agreement with Italtelo to distribute the Italian manufacturer's LED systems worldwide.

The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) is starting to rebuild itself after the collapse of marketing giant ISL, the tennis group's chief executive Mark Miles said after Nasdaq confirmed it would replace Ericsson as the sponsor of the Miami Tennis Event.

The TV channels of eight of the top European soccer clubs have banded together to form an official lobby group with the aim of creating a united voice over issues such as rights and archive access.

Spanish soccer giant FC Barcelona has signed a six-year partnership agreement with Havas Advertising Sports to develop a marketing programme targeted at top Spanish and international companies.

Moscow's bid to host the 2005 World Athletics Championships has an excellent chance of success, the head of Russian athletics said.

South Korea's flagship carrier Korean Air said it planned to increase June flights to and from Europe from 25 to 33 per week to help carry soccer fans to the World Cup.