Italy

Hungarian hardcore porn actress Eva Henger will sponsor Italian first division women's volleyball team Palermo for their match on Sunday.

German sportswear giant adidas-Salomon has assumed full ownership of its subsidiary in Italy.

A leading executive at Italian soccer giants AC Milan has said a power shift is under way - with Spain taking over at the top.

Ski legend Toni Sailer, a triple Olympic champion, has used the scene of Alpine skiing's blue-riband race to drum up support for Austria's bid to host the 2010 Winter Games.

The boom in TV soccer deals could be nearing an end, according to the senior vice-president of German media giant Kirch.

Work on the home of the Italian Grand Prix, the Monza Autodrome, has started this week and will cost an estimated $23million (EUR26.2m)

Italian Serie A club Inter Milan plans a stock market flotation by the end of the year - if it wins this season's Italian first division title.

The IAAF has received interest from eight cities to host the 2005 World Championships following the withdrawal of London at the end of last year.

Eight cities have shown an interest in staging the World Championships competition in 2005 after it was controversially taken away from the UK after the Picketts Lock debacle.

Italy-based Delta Tre Informatica has been appointed by Host Broadcast Services to provide the real-time results system and TV graphics services for this year's soccer World Cup.

Leading England soccer internationals are to be advised by the English Football Association not to sign lucrative book deals for this summer's FIFA World Cup.

An injury to Brazilian superstar Ronaldo prompted Italian soccer club Inter Milan to postpone plans to float on the stock market, it has been confirmed by club bosses.

Massimo Moratti, president of Italian soccer club Inter Milan, has blamed the knee injury sustained by star striker Ronaldo as the reason the club has not yet floated.

Toyota officially launch their new 2002 Formula One race car in Cologne, the FIFA executive hold a special meeting to deal exclusively with the FIFA World Cup and other finance matters and Juventus plans to complete its flotation on the Milan Bourse.

Italy's state-owned broadcaster RAI has finally bought the television rights to next year's World Cup from German media giant Kirch.

European countries are to lobby UEFA for more money from next year's World Cup amid concerns that most of the profits from football tournaments go to FIFA.